Prediction of the spatio-temporal gait parameters using inertial sensor

Monitoring human gait is essential to quantify gait issues associated with fall-prone individuals as well as other gait-related movement disorders. Being portable and cost-effective, ambulatory gait analysis using inertial sensors is considered a promising alternative to traditional laboratory-based approach. The current study aimed to provide a method for predicting the spatio-temporal gait parameters using the wrist-worn inertial sensors. Eight young adults were involved in a laboratory study. Optical motion analysis system and force-plates were used for the assessment of baseline gait parameters. Spatio-temporal features of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) on the wrist were analyzed. Multi-variate correlation analyses were performed to develop gait parameter prediction models. The results indicated that gait stride time was strongly correlated with peak-to-peak duration of wrist gyroscope signal in the anterio-posterior direction. Meanwhile, gait stride length was successfully predicted using a combination model of peak resultant wrist acceleration and peak sagittal wrist angle. In conclusion, current study provided the evidence that the wrist-worn inertial sensors are capable of estimating spatio-temporal gait parameters. This finding paves the foundation for developing a wrist-worn gait monitor with high user compliance.