Automatic characterization of stride parameters in canines with a single wearable inertial sensor

Background and objective Gait analysis is valuable for studying neuromuscular and skeletal diseases. Wearable motion sensors or inertial measurement units (IMUs) have become common for human gait analysis. Canines are important large animal models for translational research of human diseases. Our objective is to develop a method for accurate and reliable determination of the timing of each stride in dogs using a wearable IMU. Methods We built a wireless IMU sensor using off-the-shelf components. We also developed a MATLAB algorithm for data acquisition and stride timing determination. Stride parameters from 1,259 steps of three adult mixed breed dogs were determined across a range of six height-normalized speeds using the IMU system. The IMU results were validated by frame-by-frame manual counting of high-speed video recordings. Results Comparing IMU derived results with video revealed that the mean error ± standard deviation for stride, stance, and swing duration was 0.001 ± 0.025, -0.001 ± 0.030, and 0.001 ± 0.019 s respectively. A mean error ± standard deviation of 0.000 ± 0.020 and -0.008 ± 0.027 s was obtained for determining toe-off and toe-touch events respectively. Only one step was missed by the algorithm in the video dataset of 1,259 steps. Conclusion We have developed and validated an IMU method for automatic canine gait analysis. Our method can be used for studying neuromuscular diseases in veterinary clinics and in translational research.