Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 22, 2025
Motor Dual-Tasks for Gait Analysis and Evaluation in Post-Stroke Patients
Published on: March 11, 2021
Does thenumber of stepsneededfor UCM gait analysisdiffers between healthy and stroke?
Gisele Francini Devetak1, Carla Daniele Pacheco Rinaldin2, Maira Ranciaro2
1Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUCPR), Health Technology Graduate Program, Rua Imaculada Conceição, 1155, Curitiba 80215-901, Brazil; Complexo Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Federal do Paraná (CHC-UFPR), Rua General Carneiro, 181, Curitiba 80060-900, Brazil.
Determining the optimal number of steps for uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis in stroke gait reveals that stroke survivors require more steps than healthy individuals for reliable results.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Neurorehabilitation
- Gait Analysis
Background:
- The uncontrolled manifold (UCM) approach analyzes motor task variability.
- Reliability of UCM analysis may depend on the number of trials (steps).
- Optimal step count for UCM analysis in stroke gait is not well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate the number of steps required for UCM analysis of stroke gait.
- To compare the required number of steps between stroke survivors and healthy individuals.
- To investigate the influence of step count on UCM analysis components.
Main Methods:
- Applied UCM analysis to the single support phase (SSP) of lower limb gait.
- Used center of mass (sagittal plane) as the task variable.
- Utilized ankle, knee, and hip joint angles as elemental variables.
- Compared results from 10, 20, 30, and 40 steps, using 40 steps as a reference.
- Calculated Pearson correlation coefficients between step sets for each participant.
Main Results:
- Stroke gait UCM analysis requires a larger number of steps compared to healthy gait.
- The synergy index is less sensitive to step count than UCM components (V_UCM, V_ORT).
- Time-based UCM analysis necessitates more steps than mean value analysis.
Conclusions:
- Stroke gait UCM analysis requires a higher number of steps for reliable results than in healthy individuals.
- The number of steps impacts the sensitivity of UCM analysis components differently.
- Gait rehabilitation research using UCM analysis should consider participant group and analysis type when determining step count.
