Biomechanics-informed inertial tracking achieves the accuracy of marker-based kinematics.

Biomechanics-informed inertial tracking with IMoveLab matches marker-based systems in knee motion accuracy, enabling drift-free long-term lower limb kinematics.

• Why it matters: Accurate motion tracking outside laboratories is crucial for advancing human movement science, but IMUs have been perceived as less reliable than marker-based systems, limiting their broader adoption.
• What they did: The study developed IMoveLab, a method that incorporates biomechanical priors into state-estimation filters, leveraging muscle-tendon dynamics and degrees of freedom coupling, and validated it against biplane radiography in long-duration trials.
• The result: IMoveLab achieves marker-level accuracy and drift-free tracking, supporting more confident use of IMUs in real-world environments, thus opening new possibilities for movement research beyond laboratory settings.