Fatigue Effect on Minimal Toe Clearance and Toe Activity during Walking

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Human movement analysis
• Wearable sensor technology

Background:

• Fatigue is known to affect motor control and gait.
• Understanding gait alterations due to fatigue is crucial for injury prevention and performance optimization.
• Existing methods for measuring gait parameters like forefoot activity and toe clearance can be cumbersome.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of induced fatigue on forefoot activity (FA) and minimum toe clearance (MTC) during walking in young adults.
• To evaluate the efficacy of a novel clog-integrated sensor system for simultaneously measuring FA and MTC.
• To analyze individual variations in gait responses to fatigue.

Main Methods:

• Development of a clog-integrated sensor system measuring FA (via camera and light conductive plate) and MTC (via time of flight sensor).
• Clog posture data collected using an acceleration sensor.
• Fatigue was induced by having 14 participants walk on a treadmill at their fastest speed.
• FA and MTC were measured before and after fatigue induction in both feet.

Main Results:

• Fatigue induced observable changes in either FA or MTC in at least one foot for all participants, though effects varied individually.
• A significant increase in either FA or MTC was observed in the dominant foot of 13 out of 14 participants.
• As a group, the mean MTC in the dominant foot showed a significant increase (p = 0.038) post-fatigue.

Conclusions:

• The developed clog-integrated sensor system effectively captures gait parameters affected by fatigue.
• Fatigue demonstrably alters gait dynamics, specifically affecting forefoot activity and minimum toe clearance in young adults.
• Individual variability exists in the manifestation of fatigue-induced gait changes, with a notable impact on the dominant foot.