Accelerometry based assessment of gait parameters in children

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Pediatric Gait Analysis
• Wearable Sensor Technology

Background:

• Spatio-temporal gait parameters are crucial for understanding locomotion.
• Previous studies demonstrated the feasibility of using trunk accelerations to assess gait in adults.
• Assessing gait in children presents unique challenges due to developmental variations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of using lower trunk accelerations to determine spatio-temporal gait parameters in healthy children.
• To validate a method for gait analysis in pediatric populations using wearable sensors.
• To compare the accuracy of this method against traditional observational techniques.

Main Methods:

• Twenty children (aged 3-16 years) participated in indoor walking trials of varying distances.
• Accelerations were captured using a wireless device (DynaPort MiniMod) attached to the lower back.
• An inverted pendulum model was applied to compute gait parameters and walking distances from acceleration data.

Main Results:

• Steps were detected with high accuracy (99.6+/-0.6%).
• Walking distance was accurately estimated (100.6+/-3.3% of actual distance).
• No significant correlation was found between miscounted steps and total steps or subject age.

Conclusions:

• The inverted pendulum model effectively estimates spatio-temporal gait parameters in children, similar to adults.
• This method offers an affordable, comfortable, and accurate approach for pediatric gait assessment.
• The technique is suitable for controlled indoor environments and warrants further investigation for free-living conditions.