Human assisted tools for gait analysis and intelligent gait phase detection

Gait analysis is a widely used approach to detect deformations and allow clinicians to conclude possible treatments. However, accurate gait analysis require large amount of data and lengthy assessment times. Therefore this paper presents the initial study of a system which was developed with the intention to provide clinicians a solution to acquire gait parameters and detect anomalies with ease and comfort. The system consists of four force sensitive resistors and two inertial sensors to obtain ground contact force measurements and knee joint angles, respectively, during walking. Emphasis is made on the software application which was designed to be used in a clinical environment which allows users to perform gait analysis without in-depth knowledge on the software or hardware. The software application facilitates the real time acquisition of kinematic and kinetic gait parameters, intelligent gait phase detection and data storage for later reference. The designed system is a black box to the users, and the user can communicate to the hardware with the developed user-friendly GUI. The gait parameters and the gait phases detected are illustrated in a graphical and tabular form which aids to determine the presence of abnormalities, and the instance of deformation occurrences. The hardware and software was tested on several subjects, and the results obtained are discussed to verify the system.