Development and testing of an IMU-EMG-based wearable tracker for monitoring athletic gestures and performance of a volleyball player for post-traumatic rehabilitation

Volleyball is a high-intensity sport characterized by explosive and asymmetrical movements that expose athletes to a significant risk of lower-limb overuse injuries. Traditional biomechanical assessment techniques often rely on specialized instrumentation designed for controlled experimental settings, which may limit their practicality for real-time monitoring in field conditions. To overcome these limitations, this work presents a wearable IMU-EMG tracker developed for the simultaneous acquisition of kinematic and neuromuscular data in volleyball players. The proposed device comprises a 6-axis inertial measurement unit (LSM6DS3) and a surface electromyography (sEMG) sensor (MyoWare 2.0), managed by an SoC (nRF52840) equipped with a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) transceiver. The tracker is integrated into the calf compression sleeve and transmits IMU and EMG signals to a PC via BLE. The core innovation is the joint analysis of kinematic and bioelectrical signals, correlating neurological causes (motor unit recruitment) with biomechanical effects (movements and impact forces). Acquired data are processed to extract movement and performance-related parameters, enabling continuous monitoring of athletes during training, matches, and post-traumatic rehabilitation. Preliminary tests confirm the proposed tracker is a low-cost, non-invasive solution for sports performance analysis and injury prevention.