Kinematic variability, fractal dynamics and local dynamic stability of treadmill walking

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Motorized treadmills are widely used in research or in clinical therapy. Small kinematics, kinetics and energetics changes induced by Treadmill Walking (TW) as compared to Overground Walking (OW) have been reported in literature. The...

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Main Authors: Terrier Philippe, Dériaz Olivier
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2011-02-01
Series:Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
Online Access:http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/8/1/12
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author Terrier Philippe
Dériaz Olivier
author_facet Terrier Philippe
Dériaz Olivier
author_sort Terrier Philippe
collection DOAJ
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Motorized treadmills are widely used in research or in clinical therapy. Small kinematics, kinetics and energetics changes induced by Treadmill Walking (TW) as compared to Overground Walking (OW) have been reported in literature. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the differences between OW and TW in terms of stride-to-stride variability. Classical (Standard Deviation, SD) and non-linear (fractal dynamics, local dynamic stability) methods were used. In addition, the correlations between the different variability indexes were analyzed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty healthy subjects performed 10 min TW and OW in a random sequence. A triaxial accelerometer recorded trunk accelerations. Kinematic variability was computed as the average SD (MeanSD) of acceleration patterns among standardized strides. Fractal dynamics (scaling exponent α) was assessed by Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) of stride intervals. Short-term and long-term dynamic stability were estimated by computing the maximal Lyapunov exponents of acceleration signals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>TW did not modify kinematic gait variability as compared to OW (multivariate T<sup>2</sup>, p = 0.87). Conversely, TW significantly modified fractal dynamics (t-test, p = 0.01), and both short and long term local dynamic stability (T<sup>2 </sup>p = 0.0002). No relationship was observed between variability indexes with the exception of significant negative correlation between MeanSD and dynamic stability in TW (3 × 6 canonical correlation, r = 0.94).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Treadmill induced a less correlated pattern in the stride intervals and increased gait stability, but did not modify kinematic variability in healthy subjects. This could be due to changes in perceptual information induced by treadmill walking that would affect locomotor control of the gait and hence specifically alter non-linear dependencies among consecutive strides. Consequently, the type of walking (i.e. treadmill or overground) is important to consider in each protocol design.</p>
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spelling doaj.art-a985319af07e4c9d9539bc312cf718fc2022-12-21T22:48:26ZengBMCJournal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation1743-00032011-02-01811210.1186/1743-0003-8-12Kinematic variability, fractal dynamics and local dynamic stability of treadmill walkingTerrier PhilippeDériaz Olivier<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Motorized treadmills are widely used in research or in clinical therapy. Small kinematics, kinetics and energetics changes induced by Treadmill Walking (TW) as compared to Overground Walking (OW) have been reported in literature. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the differences between OW and TW in terms of stride-to-stride variability. Classical (Standard Deviation, SD) and non-linear (fractal dynamics, local dynamic stability) methods were used. In addition, the correlations between the different variability indexes were analyzed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty healthy subjects performed 10 min TW and OW in a random sequence. A triaxial accelerometer recorded trunk accelerations. Kinematic variability was computed as the average SD (MeanSD) of acceleration patterns among standardized strides. Fractal dynamics (scaling exponent α) was assessed by Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) of stride intervals. Short-term and long-term dynamic stability were estimated by computing the maximal Lyapunov exponents of acceleration signals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>TW did not modify kinematic gait variability as compared to OW (multivariate T<sup>2</sup>, p = 0.87). Conversely, TW significantly modified fractal dynamics (t-test, p = 0.01), and both short and long term local dynamic stability (T<sup>2 </sup>p = 0.0002). No relationship was observed between variability indexes with the exception of significant negative correlation between MeanSD and dynamic stability in TW (3 × 6 canonical correlation, r = 0.94).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Treadmill induced a less correlated pattern in the stride intervals and increased gait stability, but did not modify kinematic variability in healthy subjects. This could be due to changes in perceptual information induced by treadmill walking that would affect locomotor control of the gait and hence specifically alter non-linear dependencies among consecutive strides. Consequently, the type of walking (i.e. treadmill or overground) is important to consider in each protocol design.</p>http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/8/1/12
spellingShingle Terrier Philippe
Dériaz Olivier
Kinematic variability, fractal dynamics and local dynamic stability of treadmill walking
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
title Kinematic variability, fractal dynamics and local dynamic stability of treadmill walking
title_full Kinematic variability, fractal dynamics and local dynamic stability of treadmill walking
title_fullStr Kinematic variability, fractal dynamics and local dynamic stability of treadmill walking
title_full_unstemmed Kinematic variability, fractal dynamics and local dynamic stability of treadmill walking
title_short Kinematic variability, fractal dynamics and local dynamic stability of treadmill walking
title_sort kinematic variability fractal dynamics and local dynamic stability of treadmill walking
url http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/8/1/12
work_keys_str_mv AT terrierphilippe kinematicvariabilityfractaldynamicsandlocaldynamicstabilityoftreadmillwalking
AT deriazolivier kinematicvariabilityfractaldynamicsandlocaldynamicstabilityoftreadmillwalking