Abstract
The Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB) has been suggested as an inexpensive, portable and accessible alternative to costly laboratory-grade force plates for measuring the vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) and center of pressure (COP). Kinetic gait analysis provides important information for the rehabilitation of patients with gait disorders; however, the validity of the WBB for measuring kinetic gait parameters has not been evaluated. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the accuracy of walking force measurements—which change dynamically in a short period of stance time—collected with the WBB. Three healthy adults were asked to walk 10 steps along both straight and curved paths in clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) directions while measurements were taken using the WBB and the force plate. The accuracy of the vGRF, COP trajectory, and stance duration were evaluated using the root-mean-square error (RMSE), Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Bland–Altman plots (BAPs) to compare the WBB and the force plate. The results of the vGRF showed high accuracy (r > 0.96 and %RMSE < 6.1% in the mean values), and the stance duration as defined by the vGRF and COP trajectory was equivalent to that of commercial instrumented insoles, which are used as an alternative to the force plates. From these results, we determined that the WBB may be used for kinetic gait analysis in clinical settings where lower accuracy is acceptable.
Highlights
The ground reaction force (GRF) and center of pressure (COP)—which is the application point of the GRF during gait—are essential parameters for kinetic gait analyses such as joint torque estimation
We examined the the purpose of this study is to determine the accuracy of the vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) and COP trajectory accuracy while people walked along straight and curved paths, because these motions are natural measurements taken with the Wii Balance Board (WBB) while walking
The mean differences of the stance durations for all of the participants were within −17 to 10 ms while straight walking, and between −16 and 24 ms and −19 and 11 ms while walking along a curved path in each direction (CW and CCW, respectively)
Summary
The ground reaction force (GRF) and center of pressure (COP)—which is the application point of the GRF during gait—are essential parameters for kinetic gait analyses such as joint torque estimation. The GRF and COP are commonly measured using laboratory-grade force plates, which are the gold standard for highly accurate analysis. These devices are not always available in general clinical settings (such as a rehabilitation center) because they are expensive, difficult to transport, and require special training for their operation. For these reasons, the Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB) (Nintendo, Kyoto, Japan) has been recently suggested as an inexpensive, portable and accessible alternative to the cost-prohibitive force plates [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. The WBB can measure uniaxial force and the COP using four force sensors (called strain gauge load cells) located near each of the four corners of the usable surface of the device
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
