SHIMMER: A new tool for temporal gait analysis

Author

O´Donovan, Karol J. ; Greene, Barry R. ; McGrath, Denise ; O´Neill, Ross ; Burns, Adrian ; Caulfield, Brian

Author_Institution

Intel Digital Health Group, Leixlip, Co., Kildare, Ireland

fYear

2009

fDate

3-6 Sept. 2009

Firstpage

3826

Lastpage

3829

Abstract

Development of a flexible wireless sensor platform for measurement of biomechanical and physiological variables related to functional movement would be a vital step towards effective ambulatory monitoring and early detection of risk factors in the ageing population. The small form factor, wirelessly enabled SHIMMER platform has been developed towards this end. This study is focused assessing the utility of the SHIMMER for use in ambulatory human gait analysis. Temporal gait parameters derived from a tri-axial gyroscope contained in the SHIMMER are compared against those acquired simultaneously using the CODA motion analysis system. Results from a healthy adult male subject show excellent agreement (ICC(2, k) > 0.85) in stride, swing and stance time for 10 walking trials and 4 run trials. The mean differences using the Bland and Altman method for stance, stride and swing times were 0.0087, 0.0044 and -0.0061 seconds respectively. These results suggest that the SHIMMER is a versatile cost effective tool for use in temporal gait analysis.

Keywords

biomedical equipment; biomedical measurement; gait analysis; gyroscopes; wireless sensor networks; Altman method; Bland method; CODA motion analysis system; SHIMMER platform; ambulatory human gait analysis; biomechanical measurement; flexible wireless sensor platform; physiological variable measurement; temporal gait analysis; tri-axial gyroscope; Biomedical monitoring; Gyroscopes; Kinematics; Laboratories; Legged locomotion; Motion analysis; Motion measurement; Semiconductor device measurement; Sensor systems; Wireless sensor networks; Acceleration; Adult; Algorithms; Biomechanics; Biomedical Engineering; Computer Communication Networks; Equipment Design; Gait; Gait Disorders, Neurologic; Humans; Male; Motion; Time Factors; Transducers;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2009. EMBC 2009. Annual International Conference of the IEEE

Conference_Location

Minneapolis, MN

ISSN

1557-170X

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-3296-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IEMBS.2009.5335140

Filename

5335140