The Examination of Reliability of Lower Limb Joint Angles with Free Software ImageJ

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of lower limb joint angles computed with the software ImageJ during jumping movements. Background: Kinematics is the study of bodies in motion without regard to the forces or torques that may produce the motion. The most common method for collecting motion data uses an imaging and motion-caption system to record the 2D or 3D coordinates of markers attached to a moving object, followed by manual or automatic digitizing software. Above all, passive optical motion capture systems (e.g. Vicon system) have been regarded as the gold standards for collecting motion data. On the other hand, ImageJ is used widely for an image analysis as free software, and can collect the 2D coordinates of markers. Although much research has been carried out into the utilizations of the ImageJ software, little is known about their reliability. Method: Seven healthy female students participated as the subject in this study. Seventeen reflective markers were attached on the right and left lower limbs to measure two and three-dimensional joint angular motions. Jump performance was recorded by ten-vicon camera systems (250Hz) and one digital video camera (240Hz). The joint angles of the ankle and knee joints were calculated using 2D (ImageJ) and 3D (Vicon-MX) motion data, respectively. Results: Pearson's correlation coefficients between the two methods were calculated, and significance tests were conducted (${\alpha}=1%$). Correlation coefficients between the two were over 0.98. In Vicon-MX and ImageJ, there is no systematic error by examination of the validity using the Bland-Altman method, and all data are in the 95% limits of agreement. Conclusion: In this study, correlation coefficients are generally high, and the regression line is near the identical line. Therefore, it is considered that motion analysis using ImageJ is a useful tool for evaluation of human movements in various research areas. Application: This result can be utilized as a practical tool to analyze human performance in various fields.