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Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults
Published on: November 7, 2014
How force plate size influences the probability of valid gait data acquisition
E Oggero1, G Pagnacco, D R Morr
1Mechanical Engineering Department, Ohio State University, Columbus OH 43210, USA.
Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation
|January 6, 2001
Summary
Instrumented floors with multiple small force plates improve gait analysis success rates. This overcomes limitations of traditional force plates, ensuring more valid and complete gait cycle data collection.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Gait Analysis
- Human Movement Science
Background:
- Acquiring valid gait data is challenging with current force plate technology.
- Existing methods often require subjects to alter their natural gait for successful trials.
- Low success probabilities exist for complete gait cycle acquisition using standard force plates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the feasibility of using an instrumented floor with multiple small force plates for gait analysis.
- To address the conflicting requirements of avoiding double contact and acquiring complete gait cycles.
- To enhance the probability of successful gait analysis trials.
Main Methods:
- Extended mathematical equations for multi-plate force sensing systems.
- Developed and performed software simulations using gait data from 280 subjects.
- Analyzed various combinations of element and system sizes for instrumented floors.
Main Results:
- Simulations calculated the probability of successful gait analysis trials across different configurations.
- Identified optimal configurations for instrumented floors to maximize data validity.
- Demonstrated the potential of multi-plate systems to overcome limitations of dual-plate setups.
Conclusions:
- Instrumented floors with multiple small force plates offer a promising solution for valid gait data acquisition.
- This approach significantly increases the likelihood of successful gait analysis trials.
- The findings support the development of advanced instrumented flooring for biomechanical research.
