Homan Kentaro, Yamamoto Keizo, Kadoya Ken, Ishida Naoki, Iwasaki Norimasa
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 15, Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8638, Japan.
School of Lifelong Sport, Hokusho University, 23 Bunkyodai, Ebetsu, 069-8511, Japan.
BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2022 Apr 17;14(1):71. doi: 10.1186/s13102-022-00461-x.
Use of a wearable gait analysis system (WGAS) is becoming common when conducting gait analysis studies due to its versatility. At the same time, its versatility raises a concern about its accuracy, because its calculations rely on assumptions embedded in its algorithms. The purpose of the present study was to validate twenty spatiotemporal gait parameters calculated by the WGAS by comparison with simultaneous measurements taken with an optical motion capture system (OMCS).
Ten young healthy volunteers wore two inertial sensors of the commercially available WGAS, Physilog®, on their feet and 23 markers for the OMCS on the lower part of the body. The participants performed at least three sets of 10-m walk tests at their self-paced speed in the laboratory equipped with 12 high-speed digital cameras with embedded force plates. To measure repeatability, all participants returned for a second day of testing within two weeks.
Twenty gait parameters calculated by the WGAS had a significant correlation with the ones determined by the OMCS. Bland and Altman analysis showed that the between-device agreement for twenty gait parameters was within clinically acceptable limits. The validity of the gait parameters generated by the WGAS was found to be excellent except for two parameters, swing width and maximal heel clearance. The repeatability of the WGAS was excellent when measured between sessions.
The present study showed that spatiotemporal gait parameters estimated by the WGAS were reasonably accurate and repeatable in healthy young adults, providing a scientific basis for applying this system to clinical studies.
由于其多功能性，在进行步态分析研究时，可穿戴步态分析系统（WGAS）的使用正变得越来越普遍。与此同时，其多功能性引发了对其准确性的担忧，因为其计算依赖于算法中嵌入的假设。本研究的目的是通过与光学运动捕捉系统（OMCS）同时进行的测量相比较，验证由WGAS计算得出的20个时空步态参数。
10名年轻健康志愿者在双脚上佩戴市售WGAS（Physilog®）的两个惯性传感器，并在身体下部佩戴用于OMCS的23个标记物。参与者在配备有12台带嵌入式测力板的高速数码相机的实验室中，以自己选择的速度进行至少三组10米步行测试。为了测量重复性，所有参与者在两周内返回进行第二天的测试。
由WGAS计算得出的20个步态参数与由OMCS确定的参数具有显著相关性。Bland和Altman分析表明，20个步态参数的设备间一致性在临床可接受范围内。除了摆动宽度和最大足跟间隙这两个参数外，发现由WGAS生成的步态参数的有效性非常好。在不同测试时段测量时，WGAS的重复性非常好。
本研究表明，在健康的年轻成年人中，由WGAS估计的时空步态参数相当准确且可重复，为将该系统应用于临床研究提供了科学依据。
