Design and development of an electromagnetic cervical range of motion system

Abstract

A three-dimensional cervical-spine range-of-motion system has been developed using an electromagnetic tracking system for data collection and a personal computer for analysis and graphic representation of the data. A test was designed to investigate the sensitivity of the electromagnetic device to the proximity of metal. It was found that relative position errors could be kept below 0.5 cm and rotation errors could be kept below 1 degrees if all metal was at least 33 cm from the source and sensor and the source was kept at least 33 cm from the floor.<>