Gait Analysis From a Single Ear-Worn Sensor: Reliability and Clinical Evaluation for Orthopaedic Patients

Abstract

Abstract-Objective assessment of detailed gait patterns after orthopaedic surgery is important for post-surgical followup and rehabilitation. The purpose of this paper is to assess the use of a single ear-worn sensor for clinical gait analysis. A reliability measure is devised for indicating the confidence level of the estimated gait events, allowing it to be used in free-walking environment and facilitating clinical assessment of orthopaedic patients after surgery. Patient groups prior to or following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction and knee replacement were recruited to assess the proposed method. The ability of the sensor for detailed longitudinal analysis is demonstrated with a group of patients after lower limb reconstruction by considering parameters such as temporal and force-related gait asymmetry derived from gait events. The results suggest that the ear-worn sensor can be used for objective gait assessments of orthopaedic patients without the requirement and expense of a formal gait analysis laboratory. It significantly simplifies the monitoring protocol and opens the possibilities for home-based remote patient-assessment.

A Review on Accelerometry-Based Gait Analysis and Emerging Clinical Applications

“…In Table I, detailed information including the sensor type, position and clinical application for 48 selected papers from 2000 onwards are provided. The ear-worn sensor has shown consistent placement and has been used in the fracture clinics to monitor the rehabilitation of orthopaedic patients [100] and patients with lower limb reconstruction [98], [99]. It has also been used in the Parkinson's gait lab at University College London for PD gait analysis [97].…”

“…This includes patients with pathological gait disorders such as those caused by cerebral palsy [130] [122], spinal-cord injuries [112], transtibial amputation [88], lower limb amputation [61][106] [108], hemiplegic gaits [124][103] [126], hip dysplasia [102], Parkinson's disease (PD) [63][69], geriatric disorder [120], osteoarthritis [132] and orthopaedic [100]. It is also applied to monitor rehabilitation of patients following anterior cruciate ligament and lower limb reconstruction [98], [99].…”

“…OR MULTIPLE SENSOR CONFIGURATIONS WITH CORRESPONDING APPLICATIONS To evaluate Gait changes of PD patients after modification of DBS parameter[97] To monitor rehabilitation of patients following lower limb reconstruction[98],[99] To detect gait asymmetry in older adults including orthopaedic patients[100] • person's prosthesis • biaxial-uniaxial accelerometers • To assess walking pattern of patients with a lower-limb amputation[61] To differentiate between pre-manifest and manifest Huntington's disease subjects[53] …”

A Low-Complexity Model-Free Approach for Real-Time Cardiac Anomaly Detection Based on Singular Spectrum Analysis and Nonparametric Control Charts

“…This algorithm has successfully been applied to various real-world detection problems, for example, anomaly detection in cognitive radio networks [43], smart power grids [44], software engineering [45] and change point detection for complex-valued time series [46]. In the biomedical context, it has shown to be useful for the identification of freezing of gait in patients with Parkinson's disease [47], and the detection of anomalies in periodic biosignals such as ECGs [48], as well as in other biomedical applications [49].…”

No distance between disabled people and rehabilitation engineer in high-tech era

“…With the aid of a remote rehabilitation system, information interaction between rehabilitation engineers and disabled people can be more flexible, efficient and convenient [9]. In addition, other technologies, such as wearable technology [10], gait analysis technology [11], synchronous audio-visual technology [12] and so on have been already implicated in the field of remote rehabilitation engineering. In the following paper, several important high technologies for remote rehabilitation will be systematically analyzed via contacting the traditional rehabilitation engineering.…”