Stance Phase Detection by Inertial Measurement Unit Placed on the Metacarpus of Horses Trotting on Hard and Soft Straight Lines and Circles

Hatrisse, Chloé; Macaire, Claire; Sapone, Marie; Hebert, Camille; Hanne-Poujade, Sandrine; Azevedo, Emeline De; Marin, F.; Martin, Pauline; Château, Henry

doi:10.3390/s22030703

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…First, stance phase periods, e.g., foot-on and foot-off times, were determined based on the analysis of the gyroscopic signals recorded on the four cannon bones owing to the method developed by Hatrisse et al [ 25 ]. One stride was defined as the time between two consecutive foot-on of the left forelimb.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Thresholds for Asymmetry Indices to Represent the Visual Assessment of Single Limb Lameness by Expert Veterinarians on Horses Trotting in a Straight Line

Macaire

Hanne-Poujade²,

Azevedo

et al. 2022

Animals

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Defining whether a gait asymmetry should be considered as lameness is challenging. Gait analysis systems now provide relatively accurate objective data, but their interpretation remains complex. Thresholds for discriminating between horses that are visually assessed as being lame or sound, as well as thresholds for locating the lame limb with precise sensitivity and specificity are essential for accurate interpretation of asymmetry measures. The goal of this study was to establish the thresholds of asymmetry indices having the best sensitivity and specificity to represent the visual single-limb lameness assessment made by expert veterinarians as part of their routine practice. Horses included in this study were evaluated for locomotor disorders at a clinic and equipped with the EQUISYM® system using inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors. Visual evaluation by expert clinicians allocated horses into five groups: 49 sound, 62 left forelimb lame, 67 right forelimb lame, 23 left hindlimb lame, and 23 right hindlimb lame horses. 1/10 grade lame horses were excluded. Sensors placed on the head (_H), the withers (_W), and the pelvis (_P) provided vertical displacement. Relative difference of minimal (AI-min) and maximal (AI-max) altitudes, and of upward (AI-up) and downward (AI-down) amplitudes between right and left stance phases were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves discriminating the sound horses from each lame limb group revealed the threshold of asymmetry indice associated with the best sensitivity and specificity. AI-up_W had the best ability to discriminate forelimb lame horses from sound horses with thresholds (left: −7%; right: +10%) whose sensitivity was greater than 84% and specificity greater than 88%. AI-up_P and AI-max_P discriminated hindlimb lame horses from sound horses with thresholds (left: −7%; right: +18% and left: −10%; right: +6%) whose sensitivity was greater than 78%, and specificity greater than 82%. Identified thresholds will enable the interpretation of quantitative data from lameness quantification systems. This study is mainly limited by the number of included horses and deserves further investigation with additional data, and similar studies on circles are warranted.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Thresholds for Asymmetry Indices to Represent the Visual Assessment of Single Limb Lameness by Expert Veterinarians on Horses Trotting in a Straight Line

Macaire

Hanne-Poujade²,

Azevedo

et al. 2022

Animals

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“…These sensors have been proposed as an aid for lameness detection [15][16][17], for gait classification [18], for horse speed estimation [19], for evaluation of the effect of shoes on break over [20], or for the evaluation of different rehabilitation methods [20]. They also offer an alternative to traditional systems such as optoelectronic systems to identify the phases of locomotion [21][22][23][24][25] or estimate the horse's protraction and retraction angles [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Horse Locomotion Modifications Due to Training with Inertial Measurement Units: A Proof-of-Concept

Pasquiet

Biau

Trébot

et al. 2022

Sensors

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Detecting fatigue during training sessions would help riders and trainers to optimize their training. It has been shown that fatigue could affect movement patterns. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are wearable sensors that measure linear accelerations and angular velocities, and can also provide orientation estimates. These sensors offer the possibility of a non-invasive and continuous monitoring of locomotion during training sessions. However, the indicators extracted from IMUs and their ability to show these locomotion changes are not known. The present study aims at defining which kinematic variables and indicators could highlight locomotion changes during a training session expected to be particularly demanding for the horses. Heart rate and lactatemia were measured to attest for the horse’s fatigue following the training session. Indicators derived from acceleration, angular velocities, and orientation estimates obtained from nine IMUs placed on 10 high-level dressage horses were compared before and after a training session using a non-parametric Wilcoxon paired test. These indicators were correlation coefficients (CC) and root mean square deviations (RMSD) comparing gait cycle kinematics measured before and after the training session and also movement smoothness estimates (SPARC, LDLJ). Heart rate and lactatemia measures did not attest to a significant physiological fatigue. However, the statistics show an effect of the training session (p < 0.05) on many CC and RMSD computed on the kinematic variables, indicating a change in the locomotion with the training session as well as on SPARCs indicators (p < 0.05), and revealing here a change in the movement smoothness both in canter and trot. IMUs seem then to be able to track locomotion pattern modifications due to training. Future research should be conducted to be able to fully attribute the modifications of these indicators to fatigue.

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“…Foot-on and foot-off were determined from cannon bones IMUs’ signals thanks to the method developed by Hatrisse and al. [ 19 ]. The dorso-ventral acceleration signal was integrated twice to obtain displacement values, and was high-pass filtered using a fourth-order Butterworth filter with a cut-off frequency set to 1 Hz.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Pilot Study on the Inter-Operator Reproducibility of a Wireless Sensors-Based System for Quantifying Gait Asymmetries in Horses

Timmerman

Macaire

Hanne-Poujade³

et al. 2022

Sensors

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Repeatability and reproducibility of any measuring system must be evaluated to assess possible limitations for its use. The objective of this study was to establish the repeatability and the inter-operator reproducibility of a sensors-based system (EQUISYM®) for quantifying gait asymmetries in horses.. Seven wireless IMUs were placed on the head, the withers, the pelvis, and the 4 cannon bones on three horses, by four different operators, four times on each horse, which led to a total of 48 repetitions randomly assigned. Data were collected along three consecutive days and analysed to calculate total variance, standard deviation and the variance attributable to the operator on multiple asymmetry variables. Maximal percentage of variance due to the operator (calculated out of the total variance) was 5.3% and was related to the sensor placed on the head. The results suggest a good reproducibility of IMU-based gait analysis systems for different operators repositioning the system and repeating the same measurements at a succession of time intervals. Future studies will be useful to confirm that inter-operator reproducibility remains valid in larger groups and on horses with different degrees of locomotor asymmetry.

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Stance Phase Detection by Inertial Measurement Unit Placed on the Metacarpus of Horses Trotting on Hard and Soft Straight Lines and Circles

Cited by 10 publications

References 29 publications

Investigation of Thresholds for Asymmetry Indices to Represent the Visual Assessment of Single Limb Lameness by Expert Veterinarians on Horses Trotting in a Straight Line

Investigation of Thresholds for Asymmetry Indices to Represent the Visual Assessment of Single Limb Lameness by Expert Veterinarians on Horses Trotting in a Straight Line

Detection of Horse Locomotion Modifications Due to Training with Inertial Measurement Units: A Proof-of-Concept

A Pilot Study on the Inter-Operator Reproducibility of a Wireless Sensors-Based System for Quantifying Gait Asymmetries in Horses

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