A Gait Events Detection Algorithm Based on the Invariant Characteristic of Hip Joint Kinematics

In order to make up for the shortcomings of a single inertial sensor, which is easily disturbed and unable to directly describe the periodic characteristics of gait, a novel gait events detection algorithm is proposed which is based on the invariant characteristics of hip joint kinematics. Four healthy volunteers conducted a walking experiment over the ground, who were equipped with motion capture device and insole with foot-switch. The hip angle derived from motion capture device were applied to detect gait events, heel stride (HS) and toe off (TO). And the gait events detected by ground reactor force (GRF) were taken as the reference standard. The mean absolute difference of HS is 28 ± 42ms, and the mean absolute difference of TO is 27 ± 43ms. And the confidence levels of the two gait events are 97.5% and 99.2%, respectively. The results demonstrate that the proposed gait events detection algorithm is reliability and has potential clinical application value.