The use of sonification for physiotherapy in human movement tasks: a scoping review

(1) Objectives: This review aims to: 1 - map the use of sonification in human movement tasks for physical therapy; 2 - identify methods of data capture, tasks and its effects on human subjects; 3 - suggest future research directions. (2) News: Sonification can be described as a technique to translate data into sound. It has been used for human motion analysis tasks however it is not part of most physical therapist’s lexicon. (3) Prospects and Projects: Identify and analyze publications where sonification was used as an audio-feedback technique in physical therapy. 35 papers were included, 13 randomized-control-trials. 13 papers reported an investigation on a specific dysfunction, while upper limb movements were investigated in fifteen papers. Inertial measurement units were the most common technology used to capture human movement, 10 papers report improvements in motor control and/or movement quality. Gaps in the literature were identified: (1) absence of sonification framework for rehabilitation, (2) no long-term comparison with gold-standard interventions for specific populations, (3) approaches for cardio-respiratory physical therapy and injury prevention were absent. (4) Conclusion: Sonification has the potential to support rehabilitation for physical therapy. Effects of sonification were varied and ranged from improvements in movement quality/control, increased movement and body-awareness to improvements in performance when compared with activities with audio-visual or non-specific audio-feedback among others. Data for sonification was mainly captured using inertial measurement units, smartphones and optical tracking devices but others are also commonly used. Well-designed clinical trials supported by current promising results need to be developed. We recommend testing different sonification techniques in common physical therapy disfunctions using significant outcome measures to understand and maximize its effects on motor learning and control while scoping for further benefits.