Wearable inertial sensors in swimming motion analysis: a systematic review

Abstract

The use of contemporary technology is widely recognised as a key tool for enhancing competitive performance in swimming. Video analysis is traditionally used by coaches to acquire reliable biomechanical data about swimming performance; however, this approach requires a huge computational effort, thus introducing a delay in providing quantitative information. Inertial and magnetic sensors, including accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers, have been recently introduced to assess the biomechanics of swimming performance. Research in this field has attracted a great deal of interest in the last decade due to the gradual improvement of the performance of sensors and the decreasing cost of miniaturised wearable devices. With the aim of describing the state of the art of current developments in this area, a systematic review of the existing methods was performed using the following databases: PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, IEEE Xplore, Google Scholar, Scopus and Science Direct. Twenty-seven articles published in indexed journals and conference proceedings, focusing on the biomechanical analysis of swimming by means of inertial sensors were reviewed. The articles were categorised according to sensor's specification, anatomical sites where the sensors were attached, experimental design and applications for the analysis of swimming performance. Results indicate that inertial sensors are reliable tools for swimming biomechanical analyses.

Assessment of three-dimensional joint kinematics of the upper limb during simulated swimming using wearable inertial-magnetic measurement units

“…No direct comparison could be performed with previous studies because those analyses regarded time descriptors of swimming rather than angular indices (Magalhaes et al, 2015). Nevertheless, 3D joint kinematics may allow not only a more accurate and precise estimation of performance indicators, but also an investigation of the patterns of motion of a swimmer and their relationship with overload injuries.…”

“…However, that kind of analysis requires timeconsuming installation, calibration/computational procedures, and allows the examination of only the underwater phases of the movement and few stroke cycles. Recently, wearable inertial-magnetic measurement units (IMMUs) have been used (Magalhaes, Vannozzi, Gatta, & Fantozzi, 2015). Initially, stroke rate, stroke phases analysis and discrimination among different swimming styles were performed (Dadashi et al, 2013;Le Sage et al, 2011;Ohgi, Ichikawa, Homma, & Miyaji, 2003).…”

Underwater Sensor Network Applications: A Comprehensive Survey

“…Navigation applications take the aid of acoustic communication to cover longer distances. Localization, tracking, and trilateration applications require 4D n/a n/a Localization Many Acoustic Prototype [53] 4D n/a n/a Tracking, sonar Many Acoustic Real-time [54] 4D, 3D n/a n/a Localization n/a Acoustic Real-time [55] 4D Pool, pond Few meters Triliterization Many Acoustic Real-time [57] n/a Pool n/a Magnetic field Few RF Real-time [58] n/a Pool n/a Various Many n/a n/a [59] n/a Pool 0-10 cm Camera, pressure, and force Few Acoustic Real-time [60] n/a Pool n/a Various Many n/a n/a [61] 2D Pool n/a Accelerometer Few Optical Real-time [62] 2D Pool 10 cm Accelerometer Few Optical Real-time an UWSN that communications with the ROV to acquire data from the anchor nodes and relay the data to the remote station (4D architecture).…”

Sensor Fusion and Smart Sensor in Sports and Biomedical Applications

“…First, there is swimming style (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly). Second, there is the turn type, and third, there is swimming intensity (speed or resistance) [14,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43]. …”

“…Swimming requires two important measurements of variables to the development of the athlete, which are the resistance to the movement of the body in water and propulsion of the body in water, according to the efficiency of the arms during the movement [32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44]. …”