A low-cost video-based tool for clinical gait analysis.

Area of Science:

• Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine
• Biomechanics
• Medical Technology

Background:

• Clinical gait analysis is crucial for assessing patient walking ability in physical and rehabilitation medicine.
• Current motion tracking technologies for gait analysis are often expensive, require specialized labs, and need trained personnel, limiting widespread clinical adoption.
• There is a need for accessible and practical gait analysis tools in routine clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a low-cost, portable, video-based tool for bi-dimensional kinematic analysis of walking.
• To overcome the limitations of existing gait analysis technologies, such as high cost and infrastructure requirements.
• To provide a practical solution for physicians to assess patients' walking ability.

Main Methods:

• The system utilizes video stream processing to track markers placed on five anatomical landmarks of the leg.
• A Kalman filter is employed in conjunction with an occlusion-handling method for robust marker tracking.
• The tool provides bi-dimensional kinematic analysis of walking.

Main Results:

• The developed system was validated on a healthy subject.
• It demonstrated the ability to accurately reconstruct marker positions during walking.
• The system successfully reconstructed leg kinematics, even in the presence of significant occlusions.

Conclusions:

• The proposed low-cost, video-based tool offers a viable solution for clinical gait analysis.
• This portable system can overcome barriers to the adoption of gait analysis technologies in clinical practice.
• The tool's ability to handle occlusions enhances its reliability for assessing walking kinematics.