Estimation of Ankle Moment using Ambulatory Measurement of Ground Reaction Force and Movement of Foot and Ankle

Abstract

Ground reaction force measurement is important in the analysis of human body movements. A major drawback of the existing measurement systems is the restriction to a laboratory environment. This paper proposes an ambulatory system for the measurement of the complete ground reaction force and the center of pressure. In addition, the moment around the ankle is estimated using position estimates from miniature inertial sensors. The proposed system is validated using a force plate and an optical measurement system as a reference. The results show good correspondence between the two measurement systems