New Considerations for Collecting Biomechanical Data Using Wearable Sensors: How Does Inclination Influence the Number of Runs Needed to Determine a Stable Running Gait Pattern?

As inertial measurement units (IMUs) are used to capture gait data in real-world environments, guidelines are required in order to determine a ‘typical’ or ‘stable’ gait pattern across multiple days of data collection. Since uphill and downhill running can gre...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nizam U. Ahamed, Lauren C. Benson, Christian A. Clermont, Andrew J. Pohl, Reed Ferber
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-06-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/11/2516
_version_ 1798042220020891648
author Nizam U. Ahamed
Lauren C. Benson
Christian A. Clermont
Andrew J. Pohl
Reed Ferber
author_facet Nizam U. Ahamed
Lauren C. Benson
Christian A. Clermont
Andrew J. Pohl
Reed Ferber
author_sort Nizam U. Ahamed
collection DOAJ
description As inertial measurement units (IMUs) are used to capture gait data in real-world environments, guidelines are required in order to determine a ‘typical’ or ‘stable’ gait pattern across multiple days of data collection. Since uphill and downhill running can greatly affect the biomechanics of running gait, this study sought to determine the number of runs needed to establish a stable running pattern during level, downhill, and uphill conditions for both univariate and multivariate analyses of running biomechanical data collected using a single wearable IMU device. Pelvic drop, ground contact time, braking, vertical oscillation, pelvic rotation, and cadence, were recorded from thirty-five recreational runners running in three elevation conditions: level, downhill, and uphill. Univariate and multivariate normal distributions were estimated from differing numbers of runs and stability was defined when the addition of a new run resulted in less than a 5% change in the 2.5 and 97.5 quantiles of the 95% probability density function for each individual runner. This stability point was determined separately for each runner and each IMU variable (univariate and multivariate). The results showed that 2−4 runs were needed to define a stable running pattern for univariate, and 4−5 days were necessary for multivariate analysis across all inclination conditions. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated to cross-validate differing elevation conditions and showed excellent correlations (r = 0.98 to 1.0) comparing the training and testing data within the same elevation condition and good to very good correlations (r = 0.63−0.88) when comparing training and testing data from differing elevation conditions. These results suggest that future research involving wearable technology should collect multiple days of data in order to build reliable and accurate representations of an individual’s stable gait pattern.
first_indexed 2024-04-11T22:32:28Z
format Article
id doaj.art-d56e7fc2d8824cfaa4b7949363076041
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1424-8220
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-11T22:32:28Z
publishDate 2019-06-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Sensors
spelling doaj.art-d56e7fc2d8824cfaa4b79493630760412022-12-22T03:59:20ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202019-06-011911251610.3390/s19112516s19112516New Considerations for Collecting Biomechanical Data Using Wearable Sensors: How Does Inclination Influence the Number of Runs Needed to Determine a Stable Running Gait Pattern?Nizam U. Ahamed0Lauren C. Benson1Christian A. Clermont2Andrew J. Pohl3Reed Ferber4Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, CanadaFaculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, CanadaFaculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, CanadaFaculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, CanadaFaculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, CanadaAs inertial measurement units (IMUs) are used to capture gait data in real-world environments, guidelines are required in order to determine a ‘typical’ or ‘stable’ gait pattern across multiple days of data collection. Since uphill and downhill running can greatly affect the biomechanics of running gait, this study sought to determine the number of runs needed to establish a stable running pattern during level, downhill, and uphill conditions for both univariate and multivariate analyses of running biomechanical data collected using a single wearable IMU device. Pelvic drop, ground contact time, braking, vertical oscillation, pelvic rotation, and cadence, were recorded from thirty-five recreational runners running in three elevation conditions: level, downhill, and uphill. Univariate and multivariate normal distributions were estimated from differing numbers of runs and stability was defined when the addition of a new run resulted in less than a 5% change in the 2.5 and 97.5 quantiles of the 95% probability density function for each individual runner. This stability point was determined separately for each runner and each IMU variable (univariate and multivariate). The results showed that 2−4 runs were needed to define a stable running pattern for univariate, and 4−5 days were necessary for multivariate analysis across all inclination conditions. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated to cross-validate differing elevation conditions and showed excellent correlations (r = 0.98 to 1.0) comparing the training and testing data within the same elevation condition and good to very good correlations (r = 0.63−0.88) when comparing training and testing data from differing elevation conditions. These results suggest that future research involving wearable technology should collect multiple days of data in order to build reliable and accurate representations of an individual’s stable gait pattern.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/11/2516accelerometergaitelevationinertial measurement unitrunningslope
spellingShingle Nizam U. Ahamed
Lauren C. Benson
Christian A. Clermont
Andrew J. Pohl
Reed Ferber
New Considerations for Collecting Biomechanical Data Using Wearable Sensors: How Does Inclination Influence the Number of Runs Needed to Determine a Stable Running Gait Pattern?
Sensors
accelerometer
gait
elevation
inertial measurement unit
running
slope
title New Considerations for Collecting Biomechanical Data Using Wearable Sensors: How Does Inclination Influence the Number of Runs Needed to Determine a Stable Running Gait Pattern?
title_full New Considerations for Collecting Biomechanical Data Using Wearable Sensors: How Does Inclination Influence the Number of Runs Needed to Determine a Stable Running Gait Pattern?
title_fullStr New Considerations for Collecting Biomechanical Data Using Wearable Sensors: How Does Inclination Influence the Number of Runs Needed to Determine a Stable Running Gait Pattern?
title_full_unstemmed New Considerations for Collecting Biomechanical Data Using Wearable Sensors: How Does Inclination Influence the Number of Runs Needed to Determine a Stable Running Gait Pattern?
title_short New Considerations for Collecting Biomechanical Data Using Wearable Sensors: How Does Inclination Influence the Number of Runs Needed to Determine a Stable Running Gait Pattern?
title_sort new considerations for collecting biomechanical data using wearable sensors how does inclination influence the number of runs needed to determine a stable running gait pattern
topic accelerometer
gait
elevation
inertial measurement unit
running
slope
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/11/2516
work_keys_str_mv AT nizamuahamed newconsiderationsforcollectingbiomechanicaldatausingwearablesensorshowdoesinclinationinfluencethenumberofrunsneededtodetermineastablerunninggaitpattern
AT laurencbenson newconsiderationsforcollectingbiomechanicaldatausingwearablesensorshowdoesinclinationinfluencethenumberofrunsneededtodetermineastablerunninggaitpattern
AT christianaclermont newconsiderationsforcollectingbiomechanicaldatausingwearablesensorshowdoesinclinationinfluencethenumberofrunsneededtodetermineastablerunninggaitpattern
AT andrewjpohl newconsiderationsforcollectingbiomechanicaldatausingwearablesensorshowdoesinclinationinfluencethenumberofrunsneededtodetermineastablerunninggaitpattern
AT reedferber newconsiderationsforcollectingbiomechanicaldatausingwearablesensorshowdoesinclinationinfluencethenumberofrunsneededtodetermineastablerunninggaitpattern