Reliable sagittal plane kinematic gait assessments are feasible using low-cost webcam technology

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3-D) motion capture systems are commonly used for gait analysis because they provide reliable and accurate measurements. However, the downside of this approach is that it is expensive and requires technical expertise; thus making it less feasible in the clinic. To address this limitation, we recently developed and validated (using a high-precision walking robot) a low-cost, two-dimensional (2-D) real-time motion tracking approach using a simple webcam and LabVIEW Vision Assistant. The purpose of this study was to establish the repeatability and minimal detectable change values of hip and knee sagittal plane gait kinematics recorded using this system. Twenty-one healthy subjects underwent two kinematic assessments while walking on a treadmill at a range of gait velocities. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and minimal detectable change (MDC) values were calculated for commonly used hip and knee kinematic parameters to demonstrate the reliability of the system. Additionally, Bland-Altman plots were generated to examine the agreement between the measurements recorded on two different days. The system demonstrated good to excellent reliability (ICC > 0.75) for all the gait parameters tested on this study. The MDC values were typically low (< 5°) for most of the parameters. The Bland-Altman plots indicated that there was no systematic error or bias in kinematic measurements and showed good agreement between measurements obtained on two different days. These results indicate that kinematic gait assessments using webcam technology can be reliably used for clinical and research purposes.

Golden Gait: An Optimization Theory Perspective on Human and Humanoid Walking

“…Neurorobots already have the potential for accurately assessing motor functioning, therapy progresses and for providing patients with stimulation and real-time feedback on movement performance (Iosa et al, 2016c ). This approach should take into account the golden ratio, using this proportion for stimulating and quantitatively assessing gait harmony (Torricelli et al, 2014 ; Saner et al, 2017 ), as suggested for assessing electrocardiographic patterns with respect to the deviation from the golden ratio of the cardiac cycle ratios (Ciucurel et al, 2018 ).…”

Multi-Set Canonical Correlation Analysis for 3D Abnormal Gait Behaviour Recognition Based on Virtual Sample Generation

“…Only lateral 90 • abnormal gait data are captured. A low-cost 2D gait analysis using a webcam is evaluated in [9], using intraclass correlation coefficients and minimal detectable change values. The dataset used consists of twenty-one healthy subjects walking on a treadmill.…”

Editorial: Avoid being tripped up by statistics: Statistical guidance for a successful research paper

“…Cheng et al [30] examined the intra-and inter-observer reliability of radiographic measurements as part of a study on compensatory mechanisms in the pelvis and lower extremities in patients with pelvic incidence and lumbar lordosis mismatch. Saner, Washabaugh and Krishnan [31] examined hip and knee kinematic variables using low-cost webcam technology to determine agreement on two different days. These happened to be the first four papers published in volume 56 of Gait and Posture and all used intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) among other measures of reliability.…”