Article

A child's natural gait pattern may be affected by the gait laboratory
environment. Wearable devices using body-worn sensors have been developed for
gait analysis. The purpose of this study was to validate and explore the use of
foot-worn inertial sensors for the measurement of selected spatio-temporal
parameters, based on the 3D foot trajectory, in independently walking children
with cerebral palsy (CP). We performed a case control study with 14 children with
CP aged 6-15 years old and 15 age-matched controls. Accuracy and precision of the
foot-worn device were measured using an optical motion capture system as the
reference system. Mean accuracy +/- precision for both groups was 3.4 +/- 4.6 cm
for stride length, 4.3 +/- 4.2 cm/s for speed and 0.5 +/- 2.9 degrees for strike
angle. Longer stance and shorter swing phases with an increase in double support
were observed in children with CP (p=0.001). Stride length, speed and peak
angular velocity during swing were decreased in paretic limbs, with significant
differences in strike and lift-off angles. Children with cerebral palsy showed
significantly higher inter-stride variability (measured by their coefficient of
variation) for speed, stride length, swing and stance. During turning
trajectories speed and stride length decreased significantly (p<0.01) for both
groups, whereas stance increased significantly (p<0.01) in CP children only.
Foot-worn inertial sensors allowed us to analyze gait spatiotemporal data outside
a laboratory environment with good accuracy and precision and congruent results
with what is known of gait variations during linear walking in children with CP.
CI - Copyright (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS