Capturing hand use of individuals with spinal cord injury at home using egocentric video: a feasibility study.

Study Design: Feasibility study.

Objective: The objective of this study is to explore the feasibility of capturing egocentric (first person) video recordings in the home of individuals with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) for hand function evaluation.

Setting: Community-based study in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Methods: Three participants with SCI recorded activities of daily living (ADLs) at home without the presence of a researcher. Information regarding recording characteristics and compliance was obtained as well as structured and semi-structured interviews involving privacy, usefulness, and usability. A video processing algorithm capable of detecting interactions between the hand and objects was applied to the home recordings.

Results: In all, 98.58 ± 1.05% of the obtained footage was usable and included four to eight unique activities over a span of 3-7 days. The interaction detection algorithm yielded an F1 score of 0.75 ± 0.15.

Conclusions: Capturing ADLs using an egocentric camera in the home environment after SCI is feasible. Considerations regarding privacy, ease of use of the devices, and scheduling of recordings are provided.