Identification of gait asymmetry using wireless gyroscopes

Gait asymmetry can be found in individuals with pathologic gait. Gait asymmetry is commonly identified using Symmetry Index (SI). SI is determined using kinematic parameters measured by the optical motion capture system. Despite being standard instrument in gait analysis, it possesses several limitations. Hence, wireless gyroscopes are proposed in this paper to obtain the kinematic parameter i.e. angular rate of the lower extremity during walking. This parameter is utilized as the main variable in determining SI in both normal and abnormal walking. Normalized SI is also introduced to bound SI values to ±100%. Besides that, duration of the stride, stance phase, and swing phase are also considered to examine the efficacy of wireless gyroscopes and SI in identifying gait asymmetry.