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Updated: Nov 10, 2025
Clinical-oriented Three-dimensional Gait Analysis Method for Evaluating Gait Disorder
Published on: March 4, 2018
Kinect V2-Based Gait Analysis for Children with Cerebral Palsy: Validity and Reliability of Spatial Margin of
Yunru Ma1, Kumar Mithraratne2, Nichola Wilson3
1Department of Exercise Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
Insights
The Kinect V2 sensor offers a cost-effective method for assessing gait stability in children with cerebral palsy (CP). It provides valid and reliable spatiotemporal gait data and accurate minimum margin of stability (MOS) measures, though reliability for time-specific MOS is limited.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Rehabilitation Technology
- Gait Analysis
Background:
- Children with cerebral palsy (CP) face elevated risks of falls, necessitating robust gait stability evaluations.
- Traditional motion capture systems are often expensive and may interrupt continuous monitoring.
- The Kinect V2 sensor presents a potential low-cost alternative for frequent and uninterrupted gait analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Kinect V2 sensor for assessing gait stability in children with CP.
- To compare gait spatiotemporal parameters and margin of stability (MOS) measurements between the Kinect V2 and a reference Motion Analysis system.
Main Methods:
- Ten children with CP participated in two testing sessions.
- Gait data were simultaneously recorded using a Kinect V2 sensor and a Motion Analysis system.
- Analysis included spatiotemporal gait parameters and margin of stability (MOS).
Main Results:
- The Kinect V2 demonstrated high reliability (ICC2,k 0.83–0.99) for spatiotemporal parameters compared to the reference system.
- Reliability between testing sessions for spatiotemporal parameters was also good (ICC2,k 0.78–0.88).
- While accurate for minimum MOS, the Kinect V2 showed limited reliability for time-specific MOS measures (ICC2,k 0.28–0.69 between sessions).
Conclusions:
- The Kinect V2 is a valid and reliable tool for measuring spatiotemporal gait parameters in children with CP.
- It can accurately assess the minimum margin of stability (MOS).
- The Kinect V2 shows promise as a cost-effective technology for CP gait stability assessment, despite limitations in time-specific MOS reliability.
Abstract:
Children with cerebral palsy (CP) have high risks of falling. It is necessary to evaluate gait stability for children with CP. In comparison to traditional motion capture techniques, the Kinect has the potential to be utilised as a cost-effective gait stability assessment tool, ensuring frequent and uninterrupted gait monitoring. To evaluate the validity and reliability of this measurement, in this study, ten children with CP performed two testing sessions, of which gait data were recorded by a Kinect V2 sensor and a referential Motion Analysis system. The margin of stability (MOS) and gait spatiotemporal metrics were examined. For the spatiotemporal parameters, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,k) values were from 0.83 to 0.99 between two devices and from 0.78 to 0.88 between two testing sessions. For the MOS outcomes, ICC2,k values ranged from 0.42 to 0.99 between two devices and 0.28 to 0.69 between two test sessions. The Kinect V2 was able to provide valid and reliable spatiotemporal gait parameters, and it could also offer accurate outcome measures for the minimum MOS. The reliability of the Kinect V2 when assessing time-specific MOS variables was limited. The Kinect V2 shows the potential to be used as a cost-effective tool for CP gait stability assessment.
