A Comparison of Two Electronic Gloves in the Measurement of Joint Movement in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

This is an open pilot study to assess the usability and accuracy of two electronic goniometric gloves in measuring finger joint movement in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. We will use questionnaires to assess pain, stiffness and disability. We will be using an inner disposable glove worn under the electronic goniometric gloves as this will be important for infection control in clinical use. We will calibrate the electronic goniometric gloves using wooden blocks at predefined angles using our own software calibration process to optimise the accuracy of the glove for the individual patient. The patient will flex and extend their fingers repeatedly to get measurements of the minimum and maximum angle of flexion in their joints. During these movements we will also capture the dynamic characteristics of movement such as maximum velocity. In this study a laptop will be used to capture and record all of the measurements from the electronic goniometric glove and record the time at which the measurements were taken. Each electronic goniometric glove will be refitted for a second set of tests to assess variability due to the fitting process. We will record a full set of data from each set of movements for later analysis. Finally, we will assess usability and establish if patients have a preference between the two electronic goniometric gloves.