The kinematics of the swing phase obtained from accelerometer and gyroscope measurements

The kinematics needed to calculate the knee moment during the initial swing phase were obtained from a set of eight leg-mounted uni-axial accelerometers and two gyroscopes. The angular and linear accelerations of shank and thigh were calculated from the signals of two accelerometers mounted on each of the leg segments directed tangentially and radially to the movement. The angular velocities of shank and thigh were measured by the gyroscopes. The absolute angles of shank and thigh were obtained by integration of the gyroscope signal plus an added offset angle, estimated from radial and tangential accelerometer signals registered while standing. Movement was assumed to be in the saggital plane. The accuracy of the quantities found from the leg mounted sensors was calculated in terms of correlation and the RMS error by comparing against measurements obtained by a VICONTM system. The results were indistinguishable. The system was later applied in research measurement

Is extra care housing in England care-neutral?

Purpose– Extra care housing (ECH) is housing for older people that aims to provide flexible care while fostering independence. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact that some of the successes and failures in improving accessibility during remodelling had on care provision, in order to offer advice to social housing providers planning to remodel existing properties into ECH.Design/methodology/approach– The data consisted of an inventory of accessibility features and assistive technology (AT) items in flats and common areas. The data were drawn from ten ECH schemes in different regions of England.Findings– Most of the AT found was low-technology supporting independence, such as grabbers; some was specific to care provision, such as hoists. Even after remodelling, the design and layout of most buildings did not fully comply with accessibility standards, leading to increased provision of care for some tenants: a care-negative situation.Research limitations/implications– This multidisciplinary, original research on remodelling into ECH presents successful examples of accessibility, AT and care integration that required active tenant involvement and creative design input from care staff, architects and builders who were AT and accessibility aware. It is argued that for new and remodelled ECH buildings to be care-neutral, designers need to work towards the most inclusive model of ECH.Originality/value– This is original research that has produced guidance for builders, developers, policy makers and other stake holders.<br/

Quantifiying the stability of walking using accelerometers

A dynamic analysis method is sought to measure the relative stability of walking, using a triaxial accelerometer. A performance parameter that can be calculated from the data from the accelerometer is defined; it should give a measure of the stability of the subject. It is based on the balancing forces as reflected in the power spectrum. Preliminary experiments have been done. The results suggest that the performance parameter can order different gait patterns in terms of relative stability. Further experiments are being set up to test the usefulness of the performance parameter in clinical applications and other parameters may be define

Accelerometer and rate gyroscope measurement of kinematics: an inexpensive alternative to optical motion analysis systems

A general-purpose system to obtain the kinematics of gait in the sagittal plane based on body-mounted sensors was developed. It consisted of four uniaxial seismic accelerometers and one rate gyroscope per body segment. Tests were done with 10 young healthy volunteers, walking at five different speeds on a treadmill. In order to study the system's accuracy, measurements were made with an optic, passive-marker system and the body-mounted system, simultaneously. In all the comparison cases, the curves obtained from the two systems were very close, showing root mean square errors representing <7% full range in 75% of the cases (overall mean 6.64%, standard deviation 4.13%) and high coefficients of multiple correlation in 100% of cases (overall mean 0.9812, standard deviation 0.02). Calibration of the body-mounted system is done against gravity. The body-mounted sensors do not hinder natural movement. The calculation algorithms are computationally demanding and only are applicable off-line. The body-mounted sensors are accurate, inexpensive and portable and allow long-term recordings in clinical, sport and ergonomics setting