Evaluation of the Performances of Two Wearable Systems for Gait Analysis: A Pilot Study

Wearable sensor systems to perform human motion analysis are receiving increasing attention in different application fields. Among wearable sensors, inertial sensors have promising features. However, before they can be employed routinely in clinical applications, it is important to evaluate their reliability. Gait analysis was performed on one male volunteer: data were simultaneously collected with HGait System, based on magnetic and inertial measurement sensor units system, and with STEP32, a commercial electromechanical system already used in clinics. Spatio temporal parameters and joint kinematics in the sagittal plane obtained with H-Gait and STEP32 are compared. The MIMUs system provides a reliable estimation of spatiotemporal parameters, and acceptable hip and knee kinematic curves, while ankle joint measurements must be improved to be clinically useful.