Performance Tracking: A Multimedia Informatics System to Improve Decision Support in Movement Analysis

Decisions for improving motor function in human subjects both with disability, injury prevention, and performance improvements are made through clinical and movement analysis. Currently, this analysis facilitates identifying abnormalities in an individual’s neuro-musculoskeletal motor function. However definitively identifying the underlying cause or long-term consequences of a specific abnormality in the individual’s movement pattern is difficult since this requires information from multiple sources and formats across different times and currently relies on the experience and intuition of the expert. In addition, this data must be persistent for longitudinal outcome studies. Therefore a multimedia informatics system, comparable to an electronic patient record (ePR) system, that integrates multiple sources of informatics data could have a significant impact on decision support within this analysis workflow. In this chapter, the methodology, design, and architecture of such an informatics system including use case data types that need integration in order to develop relevant decision support tools are discussed. The end result is a new frontier area of imaging informatics research that supports improvement in performance.