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Home-Based Monitor for Gait and Activity Analysis
Published on: August 8, 2019
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A Wearable Monitor to Detect Tripping During Daily Life in Children with Intoeing Gait
Warren Smith1, Zahra Najafi1, Anita Bagley2
1Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, California State University, Sacramento, CA 95819, USA.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|October 29, 2025
Summary
This study developed a wearable monitor to track tripping events in children with intoeing gait. The device accurately detects Tripping Hazard Events (THEs) during daily activities, aiding clinical assessment and AI development.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Pediatric Orthopedics
- Wearable Technology
Background:
- Children with intoeing gait face risks of injury, mobility limitations, and psychological distress.
- Accurate, real-world quantification of tripping events is crucial for clinical assessment and AI-driven treatment evaluation.
- Existing gait analysis methods are often confined to laboratory settings, limiting their applicability to daily life.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a low-cost, wearable tripping monitor for quantifying Tripping Hazard Events (THEs) and steps in children during everyday activities.
- To enable improved clinical assessment and treatment evaluation for intoeing gait by providing real-world data.
- To create a dataset for artificial intelligence (AI) learning related to pediatric gait abnormalities.
Main Methods:
- Development of a wearable monitor utilizing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Near-Field Communication (NFC) tags to detect foot proximity.
- Integration of a Force Sensitive Resistor (FSR) for gait phase detection and step counting.
- Data logging in 15-minute epochs, validated through laboratory testing and an IRB-approved human participant study.
Main Results:
- The developed monitor demonstrated a high probability of detecting Tripping Hazard Events (THEs) during rapid gait while minimizing false positives.
- System performance was validated in laboratory settings and through a human participant study.
- Testing identified areas for mechanical robustness improvement, leading to a monitor redesign.
Conclusions:
- The developed wearable tripping monitor offers a feasible solution for quantifying real-world tripping events in children with intoeing gait.
- The system's flexible design allows for broader applications in detecting real-world activities.
- Further development focusing on mechanical robustness will enhance the monitor's utility in clinical practice and AI research.
