Kinect-Based Gait Analysis System Design and Concurrent Validity in Persons with Anterolateral Shoulder Pain...

As part of an investigation to detect asymmetries in gait patterns in persons with shoulder injuries, the goal of the present study was to design and validate a Kinect-based motion capture system that would enable the extraction of joint kinematics curves during gait and to compare them with the data obtained through a commercial motion capture system. The study included eight male and two female participants, all diagnosed with anterolateral shoulder pain syndrome in their right upper extremity with a minimum 18 months of disorder evolution. The participants had an average age of 31.8 ± 9.8 years, a height of 173 ± 18 cm, and a weight of 81 ± 15 kg. The gait kinematics were sampled simultaneously with the new system and the Clinical 3DMA system. Shoulder, elbow, hip, and knee kinematics were compared between systems for the pathological and non-pathological sides using repeated measures ANOVA and 1D statistical parametric mapping. For most variables, no significant difference was found between systems. Evidence of a significant difference between the newly developed system and the commercial system was found for knee flexion-extension (p < 0.004, between 60 and 80% of the gait cycle), and for shoulder abduction-adduction. The good concurrent validity of the new Kinect-based motion analysis system found in this study opens promising perspectives for clinical motion tracking using an affordable and simple system.