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In personal injury lawsuits, it can be notoriously difficult to establish whether a victim deserves compensation.

Currently doctors are used to decide whether an individual has sustained injuries that have left them unable to work again, but soon, wearable devices such as Fitbit could partially inherit this difficult task.

And a law firm in Alberta, Canada, is using the device to show what effects an accident has had on a client, marking the first time a wearable has been used in a courtroom.

One law firm in Alberta, Canada, is using a wearable fitness device - the Fitbit (pictured) - to show the effects an accident has had on a client, marking the first time a wearable has been used in a courtroom

The idea is that a victim wears a Fitbit for a period of time, which monitors their activity, collecting quantifiable data that can be used by lawyers.

Analytics firm Vivametrica has launched a service that involves the use of a wearable fitness device in personal injury litigation, in order to count steps taken by a victim and formulate a 'quantitative representation of the claimant's activity during their normal weekly routine.'

The person's activity is compared to a database showing the average activity of the nation, with datasets weighted by age, gender, body mass index and wait circumference.

'This offering provides quantifiable data backed by clinical research to support legal cases involving personal injury claims,' it said.

The data will not be used in isolation, but will instead be used alongside other legal assessment tools, the client's perceptions in their own abilities, and other medical findings.

Vivametrica claims that the method is non-invasive and provides 'valid, objective and individualised information' for personal injury cases, which may be caused by car accident (illustrated) for example

The company claims that the method is non-invasive and provides 'valid, objective and individualised information.'

'The Functional Activity Assessment is objective and represents a real-world assessment of function,' said Dr Richard Hu, founder of Vivametrica.

'Appropriate use of individualised activity data collected by wearables provides the legal profession with methods for the early assessment of the strength of their clients' cases.

However, MailOnline has asked the company if the method is completely fool proof, and whether a claimant could be deliberately less active than usual to try and tip the outcome of a case in their favour.

McLeod Law in Calgary is using a wearable device in a bid to prove that a personal fitness instructor, who was injured in an accident four years ago, is forced to lead a less active lifestyle than someone of her age and profession, Forbes reported. 

Her lawyer, Simon Muller, said the device will support her story and instead of relying on clinical interpretation, it will gather hard data for entire days. 

She has been wearing a Fitbit for several months.

Analytics firm Vivametrica has launched a service that uses a wearable fitness device in personal injury litigation, in order to count steps taken by a victim and formulate a 'representation of the claimant's activity during their normal routine'. This can determine if their injury has negatively affected their life (illustrated)

'We're expecting the results to show that her activity level is less, and compromised, as a result of her injury,' Mr Muller said.

'Prior to this, legal teams representing personal injury cases had to rely on subjective, personally reported data from clients.

'The Functional Activity Assessment closes the gap between what a client perceives and what is objectively verifiable.

'Now that we have access to this invaluable health data, we anticipate that it will become an expected part of our practice.'

If the technique proves useful in court, wearables could one day be used in other types of legal cases, especially where insurers risk paying out large sums of money.

This could lead to parties demanding data from Fitbit, or another wearable companies, to provide information about an individual.

Matthew Perarn, of Claims Canada told Forbes that wearables could become a 'black box' for the human body over long periods of time.