Crutch gait patterns characterization through spatial and temporal parameters
(English) Crutches are widely used as assistive walking devices for a diverse population. They are often prescribed by clinicians/therapists to help offload the lower extremities for individuals with impairments. They can be used to assist a range of disabilities, from short-term injuries to permane...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2023 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/403962 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/403962 https://dx.doi.org/10.5821/dissertation-2117-403962 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria biomèdica Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica |
| Sumario: | (English) Crutches are widely used as assistive walking devices for a diverse population. They are often prescribed by clinicians/therapists to help offload the lower extremities for individuals with impairments. They can be used to assist a range of disabilities, from short-term injuries to permanent mobility loss. Crutches can be a valuable tool for enabling patients to recover their health or walk more easily, provided they are used correctly. Instrumentation of walking aids generates numerous benefits for both the therapist and the patient. This kind of technology has arisen as a non-invasive, cheap, and portable tool to assist patients and therapists in rehabilitation and monitor quantitative gait parameters during their use. The use of instrumented crutches could contribute to the correct use of aids in the early stages of the recovery process and ultimately help the patient to achieve functional recovery. The use of crutches alters the typical gait pattern, and the choice of a particular crutch gait pattern is dependent on the patient's injuries, lower limb pain, user abilities, or disabilities. Consequently, it's important to measure and evaluate the crutch gait walking patterns to understand the patient's interaction with the assistive device, and prevent possible injuries, improve the training process, and personalize the therapy. This thesis aims to characterize walking patterns during assisted crutch gait. To achieve this, a portable device was designed to be mounted on a pair of crutches and collect gait-related data. The system comprises sensors that capture forces, angles, and accelerations while the participant undergoes walking trials, and a Bluetooth module that transmits data to a computer in real-time. The effectiveness and efficiency of the device were verified through multiple experiments, in which the instrumented crutch system was tested by three groups of participants. Subsequently, a methodology was proposed to analyze the gait and identify different walking patterns. Three algorithms were developed to segment crutch gait into individual cycles and separate them into phases. An experimental setup was created to collect data, involving 27 participants walking in four selected gait patterns. To identify the most relevant metrics for the analysis, Machine Learning methods were applied, resulting in the selection of key features like forces, accelerations, angles, and stride time. These metrics were validated using classification techniques to ensure their effectiveness in characterizing various aspects of crutch gait patterns. As a result, a database containing data collected from all the participants in the study was established. Finally, using the selected set of parameters, four crutch gait patterns were characterized. The parameters and the relation with the patterns and the users were analyzed using a statistical approach and graphics of the gait. These results reflected the final goal of this thesis. Understanding crutch gait patterns has implications for the development of personalized rehabilitation plans for individuals with gait abnormalities, injuries, or permanent users of crutches. |
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