Gait analysis in patients with neurological disorders using ankle-worn accelerometers

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate gait in patients with neurological disorders using accelerometers. Accelerometers were placed on both ankles of participants undergoing gait analysis. Data were collected during the 10-min walk test from healthy participants (n = 20) and patients with neurological deficits (n = 22) scheduled for surgery. Additional data were obtained after surgery for comparison. Both the time and frequency domain features were compared between healthy participants and patients. The interval between successive heel-strikes differed significantly, as did that between successive toe-offs. These features were correlated in healthy participants but not in patients, for whom the correlation coefficients tended to increase after surgery, indicating that the correlations can be used to monitor gait recovery and ankle-worn accelerometers were effective in collecting data for gait monitoring.