Estimation of Walking Speed and Its Spatiotemporal Determinants Using a Single Inertial Sensor Worn on the Thigh: From Healthy to Hemiparetic Walking

Dheepak Arumukhom Revi, Stefano M M De Rossi, Conor J Walsh, Louis N Awad, Dheepak Arumukhom Revi, Stefano M M De Rossi, Conor J Walsh, Louis N Awad

Abstract

We present the use of a single inertial measurement unit (IMU) worn on the thigh to produce stride-by-stride estimates of walking speed and its spatiotemporal determinants (i.e., stride time and stride length). Ten healthy and eight post-stroke individuals completed a 6-min walk test with an 18-camera motion capture system used for ground truth measurements. Subject-specific estimation models were trained to estimate walking speed using the polar radius extracted from phase portraits produced from the IMU-measured thigh angular position and velocity. Consecutive flexion peaks in the thigh angular position data were used to define each stride and compute stride times. Stride-by-stride estimates of walking speed and stride time were then used to compute stride length. In both the healthy and post-stroke cohorts, low error and high consistency were observed for the IMU estimates of walking speed (MAE < 0.035 m/s; ICC > 0.98), stride time (MAE < 30 ms; ICC > 0.97), and stride length (MAE < 0.037 m; ICC > 0.96). This study advances the use of a single wearable sensor to accurately estimate walking speed and its spatiotemporal determinants during both healthy and hemiparetic walking.

Keywords: phase portrait; thigh; walking speed estimation; wearable sensors.

Conflict of interest statement

C.J.W. is a paid consultant for ReWalk Robotics. L.N.A. is a paid consultant for MedRhythms. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study Overview: (A) Optical motion capture provided ground truth measurements. (B) A thigh inertial measurement unit (IMU) provided all data used for the IMU-based estimation. (C) Example motion capture (Mocap) and IMU measured data collected and used in the study. Abbreviations: IMU—inertial measurement unit, COM—center of mass; w.r.t—with respect to.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Thigh phase portrait and walking speed and stride length estimation accuracy: (A) Angular position and velocity measured by a thigh IMU (after filtering and normalization of the thigh angle) for one healthy study participant and the paretic and nonparetic limbs of a person post-stroke. (B) Exemplar phase portraits generated using data plotted in (A). (C) Accuracy of walking speed estimation within and across subjects. (D) Accuracy of stride length estimation within and across subjects.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distance-induced changes in speed, stride length, and cadence in healthy individuals. Reported Δs are the difference in the average from the last 30 s of walking and the first 30 s of walking. Regions highlighted in gray are missing data.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Distance-induced changes in speed, stride length, and cadence in post-stroke individuals. Reported Δs are the difference in the average from the last 30 s of walking and the first 30 s of walking. Regions highlighted in gray are missing data.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Thigh phase portraits used for speed estimation. The transparent lines in each panel are data from individual participants. The thick line in each panel is the average across participants. Subpanel: Comparison of the phase portrait roundness across groups. ** statistical significance (p < 0.001), * statistical significance (p = 0.038).

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