A Comprehensive gait data acquisition system: An integrated pedobarograph and imaging system

• Main Authors: Agustin, Chrissete C., Geslani, Janina Marie A., Lee, Beverly Ann M., Peralta, Bernard P., See, Alvin Arthur A.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2008
• Subjects: Walking; Gait in humans; Gait disorders; Detectors; Automatic data collection systems
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_honors/311
• Institution: De La Salle University

Gait-related problems can be addressed with the use of qualitative and quantitative data. In the current Philippines' setting, doctors rely only on their skills and experience on analyzing their patients' gait patterns. Gait-analyzing systems are already available abroad but are very expensive. The proponents created a low cost system that integrated a pedobarograph and gait-imaging system which can be locally available. The imaging system is composed of an image capturing device (i.e web camera), a desktop computer, and reflective markers. The cameras capture the walking pattern, then save the images which can be reloadable. The gait analysis system measures the degree of angle displaced by the joints of the limbs during walking. After processing 269 images captured by the imaging system, the results show that the system has an average of 2.2% error and is 97% reliable in having an error of less than 5.0% for its angle measurements. The pedobarograph part is composed of a force plate, a signal conditioning circuit and a data acquisition system. The pressure readings are voltage signals processed by the motherboard. On the GUI of the program, colors were used to display relative pressure readings - black for off and no contact, blue for low pressure, and red for high pressure. It was found out that in order to capture the five complete stance phase events of a walk, the patient must walk along the platform at least three times per session. Overall, the system prototype proved to be able to provide reliable joint measurements and display relative foot pressure distribution simultaneously.