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A Novel Kinematic Model for Wearable Gait Analysis

Authors:
Marcello Fusca
Paolo Perego
Giuseppe Andreoni

Keywords: wearable device; wearable sensors; gait analysis; human kinematics; clinical application; algorithms.

Abstract:
The work studies the acceleration of a single tri-axial accelerometer fixed at the sacrum position on the back of subject next to the COM (Center Of Mass). The correlation between the cycle of the COM and the cycle of the walking is analyzed by using a harmonic oscillator as a model for human locomotion. The COM position is calculated without any integration of its acceleration. A double integration of raw accelerometer data can result in an accumulation of drift error resulting in wrong position and distance or step length evaluation. The acceleration of a harmonic oscillator is directly proportional to the position. We evaluate the COM position and translation into a sinusoidal pattern. For every step cycle, the maximum of COM amplitude is used to give the relative S step length. This kinematic model generates the properly attended values; all steps are detected and the absolute accuracy error in the measurement of the step length, ranges from 0.32% to 3.33% with a mean value 2.17%. In the model, many output parameters are processed to study the subject movement analysis, but all that parameters should be compared with the gold standard values using appropriate protocols. We use data of Swedish adult people to obtain coefficients C to evaluate Smean (mean anthropometric step length). Smean is used only as a reference, but is not the S value measured by the model. New protocols and data verification are carried out. The expectation is to develop a dedicated tool to support diagnosis and rehabilitation.

Pages: 123 to 128

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2017

Publication date: March 19, 2017

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4359

ISBN: 978-1-61208-540-1

Location: Nice, France

Dates: from March 19, 2017 to March 23, 2017