Abstract
Gait parameters calculated from trunk acceleration reflect the features of gait; however, they cannot evaluate the gait pattern corresponding to the gait cycle. This study is aimed at investigating the differences in gait parameters calculated from trunk acceleration during gait corresponding to the gait cycle in healthy subjects with restricted knee extension. Participants included eight healthy volunteers who walked normally (NW) and with knee orthosis that restricted knee extension (ER). The ground reaction force (GRF), joint angles, and trunk acceleration during walking were measured using four force plates, a three-dimensional motion analysis system, and an inertial measurement unit. The peak GRF of the vertical components, joint ranges of motion, and moments of force were analyzed. The root mean square (RMS) and amplitude peak ratio (AR) of autocorrelation function were calculated from the trunk acceleration waveform. The first peak GRF and peak ankle dorsiflexion angles significantly increased during ER. The peak hip extension, knee flexion, knee extension angles, and the peak moment of knee extension significantly decreased during ER compared to that during NW. The acceleration AR significantly decreased during ER compared to that during NW. There was no significant difference in the RMS between the two conditions. The acceleration AR may show the temporal postural structure with restricted knee extension from the terminal stance phase for the ipsilateral limb to the initial stance phase for the contralateral limb. These results suggest that novel metrics for accelerometry gait analysis can reveal gait abnormalities, with restricted knee extension corresponding to the gait cycle.
Highlights
An inertial measurement unit (IMU) is a small wearable instrument that is used for both gait analysis during rehabilitation [1,2,3] and activity measurement in daily living [4, 5]
IMUs are attached to the body to measure cyclical body movement relative to the center of gravity (COG) by detecting changes in trunk acceleration during walking [6]
This study is aimed at investigating differences in the gait parameters calculated from trunk acceleration during gait corresponding to the gait cycle in healthy subjects with restricted knee joints, which simulated the characteristic motion of knee flexion contracture
Summary
An inertial measurement unit (IMU) is a small wearable instrument that is used for both gait analysis during rehabilitation [1,2,3] and activity measurement in daily living [4, 5]. IMUs can be used for calculating important gait parameters, such as spatiotemporal parameters [8,9,10], or for investigating the gait stability and variability between normal and pathological gaits and for classifying different types of gait patterns, for example, the stroke patient gait pattern [11] or Parkinson’s disease gait pattern [12] These benefits have led to gait analysis with IMUs being widely used in clinical settings and care units. Compared to large-scale systems like three-dimensional motion analysis systems, gait analysis using IMUs has advantages that include a relatively low cost, simplicity of measurement, and the ability to perform the measurement anywhere
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