EVALUATION OF A LONG-RANGE TRANSMITTER FOR USE WITH A MAGNETIC TRACKING DEVICE IN MOTION ANALYSIS

The suitability of a long-range transmitter was evaluated for use with a Polhemus Fastrak(R) magnetic tracking device in kinesiologic studie s. Performance was judged by comparing positional and rotational accur acy to a standard transmitter. Data were obtained at distances of up t o 2.7 and 5.0 m for the standard and long-range transmitters, respecti vely. Use of the long-range transmitter improved system performance al lowing reproducible measurements at a greater distance. However, it is necessary to calibrate the system in each new test environment as the re can be significant distortion of the magnetic field. (C) 1998 Elsev ier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.