BioKin: an ambulatory platform for gait kinematic and feature assessment

A platform to move gait analysis, which is normally restricted to a clinical environment in a well-equipped gait laboratory, into an ambulatory system, potentially in non-clinical settings is introduced. This novel system can provide functional measurements to guide therapeutic interventions for people requiring rehabilitation with limited access to such gait laboratories. BioKin system consists of three layers: a low-cost wearable wireless motion capture sensor, data collection and storage engine, and the motion analysis and visualisation platform. Moreover, a novel limb orientation estimation algorithm is implemented in the motion analysis platform. The performance of the orientation estimation algorithm is validated against the orientation results from a commercial optical motion analysis system and an instrumented treadmill. The study results demonstrate a root-mean-square error less than 4 degrees and a correlation coefficient more than 0.95 when compared with the industry standard system. These results indicate that the proposed motion analysis platform is a potential addition to existing gait laboratories in order to facilitate gait analysis in remote locations.