Inertial Sensor-Based Gait and Attractor Analysis as Clinical Measurement Tool: Functionality and Sensitivity in...

Objective: To determine if the attractor for acceleration gait data is similar among healthy persons defining a reference attractor; if exercise-induced changes in the attractor in patients with symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis (sLSS) are greater than in healthy persons; and if the exercise-induced changes in the attractor are affected by surgical treatment. Methods: Twenty-four healthy subjects and 19 patients with sLSS completed a 6-min walk test (6MWT) on a 30-m walkway. Gait data were collected using inertial sensors (RehaGait^®;) capturing 3-dimensional foot accelerations. Attractor analysis was used to quantify changes in low-pass filtered acceleration pattern (δM) and variability (δD) and their combination as attractor-based index (δF = δM^* δD) between the first and last 30 m of walking. These parameters were compared within healthy persons and patients with sLSS (preoperatively and 10 weeks and 12 months postoperatively) and between healthy persons and patients with sLSS. The variability in the attractor pattern among healthy persons was assessed as the standard deviation of the individual attractors. Results: The attractor pattern differed greatly among healthy persons. The variability in the attractor between subjects was about three times higher than the variability around the attractor within subject. The change in gait pattern and variability during the 6MWT did not differ significantly in patients with sLSS between baseline and follow-up but differed significantly compared to healthy persons. Discussion: The attractor for acceleration data varied largely among healthy subjects, and hence a reference attractor could not be generated. Moreover, the change in the attractor and its variability during the 6MWT differed between patients and elderly healthy persons but not between repeated assessments. Hence, the attractor based on low-pass filtered signals as used in this study may reflect pathology specific differences in gait characteristics but does not appear to be sufficiently sensitive to serve as outcome parameter of decompression surgery in patients with sLSS.