DUO-GAIT: A gait dataset for walking under dual-task and fatigue conditions with inertial measurement units.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing and evaluating gait analysis algorithms based on inertial measurement unit (IMU) data, which has important implications, including sports, assessment of diseases, and rehabilitation. Multi-tasking and physical fatigue are two relevant aspects of daily life gait monitoring, but there is a lack of publicly available datasets to support the development and testing of methods using a mobile IMU setup. We present a dataset consisting of 6-minute walks under single- (only walking) and dual-task (walking while performing a cognitive task) conditions in unfatigued and fatigued states from sixteen healthy adults. Especially, nine IMUs were placed on the head, chest, lower back, wrists, legs, and feet to record under each of the above-mentioned conditions. The dataset also includes a rich set of spatio-temporal gait parameters that capture the aspects of pace, symmetry, and variability, as well as additional study-related information to support further analysis. This dataset can serve as a foundation for future research on gait monitoring in free-living environments.

The Interaction between Mobility Status and Exercise Specificity in Older Adults.

Many adults older than 60 yr experience mobility limitations. Although physical exercise improves older adults' mobility, differences in baseline mobility produce large variations in individual responses to interventions, and these responses could further vary by the type and dose of exercise. Here, we propose an exercise prescription model for older adults based on their current mobility status.

Validation of an IMU Gait Analysis Algorithm for Gait Monitoring in Daily Life Situations.

Gait is an essential function for humans, and gait patterns in daily life provide meaningful information about a person's cognitive and physical health conditions. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) have emerged as a promising tool for low-cost, unobtrusive gait analysis. However, large varieties of IMU gait analysis algorithms and the lack of consensus for their validation make it difficult for researchers to assess the reliability of the algorithms for specific use cases. In daily life, individuals adapt their gait patterns in response to changes in the environment, making it necessary for IMU gait analysis algorithms to provide accurate measurements despite these gait variations. In this paper, we reviewed common types of IMU gait analysis algorithms and appropriate analysis methods to evaluate the accuracy of gait parameters extracted from IMU measurements. We then evaluated stride lengths and stride times calculated from a comprehensive double integration based IMU gait analysis algorithm using an optoelectric walkway as gold standard. In total, 729 strides from five healthy subjects and three different walking patterns were analyzed. Correlation analyses and Bland-Altman plots showed that this method is accurate and robust against large variations in walking patterns (stride length: correlation coefficient (r) was 0.99, root mean square error (RMSE) was 3% and average limits of agreement (LoA) was 6%; stride time: r was 0.95, RMSE was 4% and average LoA was 7%), making it suitable for gait evaluation in daily life situations. Due to the small sample size, our preliminary findings should be verified in future studies.

Evaluation of the Pose Tracking Performance of the Azure Kinect and Kinect v2 for Gait Analysis in Comparison with a Gold Standard: A Pilot Study.

Gait analysis is an important tool for the early detection of neurological diseases and for the assessment of risk of falling in elderly people. The availability of low-cost camera hardware on the market today and recent advances in Machine Learning enable a wide range of clinical and health-related applications, such as patient monitoring or exercise recognition at home. In this study, we evaluated the motion tracking performance of the latest generation of the Microsoft Kinect camera, Azure Kinect, compared to its predecessor Kinect v2 in terms of treadmill walking using a gold standard Vicon multi-camera motion capturing system and the 39 marker Plug-in Gait model. Five young and healthy subjects walked on a treadmill at three different velocities while data were recorded simultaneously with all three camera systems. An easy-to-administer camera calibration method developed here was used to spatially align the 3D skeleton data from both Kinect cameras and the Vicon system. With this calibration, the spatial agreement of joint positions between the two Kinect cameras and the reference system was evaluated. In addition, we compared the accuracy of certain spatio-temporal gait parameters, i.e., step length, step time, step width, and stride time calculated from the Kinect data, with the gold standard system. Our results showed that the improved hardware and the motion tracking algorithm of the Azure Kinect camera led to a significantly higher accuracy of the spatial gait parameters than the predecessor Kinect v2, while no significant differences were found between the temporal parameters. Furthermore, we explain in detail how this experimental setup could be used to continuously monitor the progress during gait rehabilitation in older people.

How We Found Our IMU: Guidelines to IMU Selection and a Comparison of Seven IMUs for Pervasive Healthcare Applications.

Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are commonly used for localization or movement tracking in pervasive healthcare-related studies, and gait analysis is one of the most often studied topics using IMUs. The increasing variety of commercially available IMU devices offers convenience by combining the sensor modalities and simplifies the data collection procedures. However, selecting the most suitable IMU device for a certain use case is increasingly challenging. In this study, guidelines for IMU selection are proposed. In particular, seven IMUs were compared in terms of their specifications, data collection procedures, and raw data quality. Data collected from the IMUs were then analyzed by a gait analysis algorithm. The difference in accuracy of the calculated gait parameters between the IMUs could be used to retrace the issues in raw data, such as acceleration range or sensor calibration. Based on our algorithm, we were able to identify the best-suited IMUs for our needs. This study provides an overview of how to select the IMUs based on the area of study with concrete examples, and gives insights into the features of seven commercial IMUs using real data.