Department of Biomedical and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Informatics, University of Bradford, United Kingdom.
Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Northumbria, United Kingdom.
J Biomech. 2022 Oct;143:111272. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2022.111272. Epub 2022 Aug 28.
The mechanical output at the ankle provides key contribution to everyday activities, particularly step/stair ascent and descent. Age-related decline in ankle functioning can lead to an increased risk of falls on steps and stairs. The rising up-on-the-toes (UTT) 30-second test (UTT-30) is used in the clinical assessment of ankle muscle strength/function and endurance; the main outcome being how many repetitive UTT movements are completed. This preliminary study describes how inertial measurement units (IMUs) can be used to assess the UTT-30. Twenty adults (26.2 ± 7.7 years) performed a UTT-30 at a comfortable speed, with IMUs attached to the dorsal aspect of each foot. Use of IMUs' angular velocity signal to detect the peak plantarflexion angular velocity (p-fAngVel) associated with each repeated UTT movement indicated the number of UTT movements attempted by each participant. Any UTT movements that were performed with a p-fAngVel 2SD below the mean were deemed to have not been completed over a sufficiently 'full' range. Findings highlight that use of IMUs can provide valid assessment of the UTT 30-second test. Their use detected the same number of attempted UTT movements as that observed by a researcher (average difference, -0.1 CI, -0.2 - 0.1), and on average 97.6 ± 3.1% of these movements were deemed to have been completed 'fully'. We discuss the limitations of our approach for identifying the movements not completed fully, and how assessing the consistency in the magnitude of the repeated p-fAngVel could be undertaken and what this would indicate about UTT-30 performance.
踝关节的机械输出为日常活动提供了关键贡献，尤其是在上下楼梯时。踝关节功能随年龄的下降会导致在台阶和楼梯上摔倒的风险增加。脚尖抬起 30 秒测试（UTT-30）用于临床评估踝关节肌肉力量/功能和耐力；主要结果是完成了多少重复的 UTT 动作。这项初步研究描述了如何使用惯性测量单元（IMU）来评估 UTT-30。20 名成年人（26.2±7.7 岁）以舒适的速度进行 UTT-30，在每个脚的背面附着 IMU。使用 IMU 的角速度信号检测与每个重复 UTT 运动相关的最大跖屈角速度（p-fAngVel），表明每个参与者尝试的 UTT 运动次数。任何被认为没有完成足够“完整”范围的 UTT 运动，其 p-fAngVel 都低于平均值的 2SD。研究结果表明，使用 IMU 可以对 UTT 30 秒测试进行有效评估。它们的使用检测到与研究人员观察到的相同数量的尝试 UTT 运动（平均差异，-0.1 CI，-0.2-0.1），并且这些运动中平均有 97.6±3.1%被认为已完全完成。我们讨论了我们的方法在识别未完全完成的运动方面的局限性，以及如何评估重复 p-fAngVel 的幅度的一致性，以及这将如何指示 UTT-30 的表现。
