Department of Computer Science, Pervasive Systems Group, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2023 Apr 14;18(4):e0284554. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284554. eCollection 2023.
Detection of fatigue helps prevent injuries and optimize the performance of horses. Previous studies tried to determine fatigue using physiological parameters. However, measuring the physiological parameters, e.g., plasma lactate, is invasive and can be affected by different factors. In addition, the measurement cannot be done automatically and requires a veterinarian for sample collection. This study investigated the possibility of detecting fatigue non-invasively using a minimum number of body-mounted inertial sensors. Using the inertial sensors, sixty sport horses were measured during walk and trot before and after high and low-intensity exercises. Then, biomechanical features were extracted from the output signals. A number of features were assigned as important fatigue indicators using neighborhood component analysis. Based on the fatigue indicators, machine learning models were developed for classifying strides to non-fatigue and fatigue. As an outcome, this study confirmed that biomechanical features can indicate fatigue in horses, such as stance duration, swing duration, and limb range of motion. The fatigue classification model resulted in high accuracy during both walk and trot. In conclusion, fatigue can be detected during exercise by using the output of body-mounted inertial sensors.
检测疲劳有助于预防损伤并优化马匹的表现。先前的研究试图使用生理参数来确定疲劳。然而,测量生理参数,如血浆乳酸,具有侵入性,并且可能受到不同因素的影响。此外,测量无法自动进行,并且需要兽医进行样本采集。本研究探讨了使用最少数量的身体安装惯性传感器进行非侵入性疲劳检测的可能性。使用惯性传感器,在高强度和低强度运动前后,对 60 匹运动马进行了步行和小跑测量。然后,从输出信号中提取生物力学特征。使用邻域成分分析将许多特征指定为重要的疲劳指标。基于疲劳指标,开发了用于将步伐分类为非疲劳和疲劳的机器学习模型。结果表明,生物力学特征可以指示马匹的疲劳,例如站立持续时间、摆动持续时间和肢体运动范围。在步行和小跑时,疲劳分类模型的准确率都很高。总之,通过使用身体安装的惯性传感器的输出,可以在运动过程中检测到疲劳。