Article

Stair climbing can be measured using body-fixed sensors, whereby the origin and
axes of the coordinate system are fixed with respect to the geometry of a body
segment. These sensors can be part of a portable system, which provides the
possibility to collect data in complex real-life environments. However due to the
fact that the sensors are body-fixed, difficulties in determining the
ground-based parameters of stair ascent can occur. The purpose of this study is
to present a new approach for determining initial contacts based on a multi-chain
biomechanical model combined with a new analysis method, in which relative hip
height is compared to hip height during normal standing. Initial contacts
obtained from the proposed method were compared to those obtained using an
optical tracking device. An average absolute timing difference ranging from 0.04
(SD + or - 0.03) to 0.06 (+ or - 0.03) s and a root mean square error ranging
from 0.05 to 0.07 s were found between the two techniques. This shows that the
new approach presented in this study can be used to accurately determine initial
contacts during stair ascent using portable equipment.
CI - Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS