Soldiers returning from the global war on terror requiring lower leg prosthetics generally have different concerns and requirements than the typical lower leg amputee. These subjects are usually young, wish to remain active and often desire to return to active military duty. As such, they demand higher performance from their prosthetics, but are at risk for chronic injury and joint conditions in their unaffected limb. Motion analysis is a valuable tool in assessing the performance of new and existing prosthetic technologies as well as the methods in fitting these devices to both maximize performance and minimize risk of injury for the individual soldier. We are developing a mobile, low-cost motion analysis system using inertial measurement units (IMUs) and two custom force sensors that detect ground reaction forces and moments on both the unaffected limb and prosthesis. IMUs were tested on a robot programmed to simulate human gait motion. An algorithm which uses a kinematic model of the robot and an extended Kalman filter (EKF) was used to convert the rates and accelerations from the gyro and accelerometer into joint angles. Compared to encoder data from the robot, which was considered the ground truth in this experiment, the inertial measurement system had a RMSE of <1.0 degree. Collecting kinematic and kinetic data without the restrictions and expense of a motion analysis lab could help researchers, designers and prosthetists advance prosthesis technology and customize devices for individuals. Ultimately, these improvements will result in better prosthetic performance for the military population.
Mobile Motion Analysis System Using Inertial Sensors for Analysis of Lower Limb Prosthetics
2011
4 pages
Report
No indication
English
Emerging lower cost inertial sensors
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1995
|Use of inertial sensors to measure upper limb motion: application in stroke rehabilitation
BASE | 2016
|Survey of Motion Tracking Methods Based on Inertial Sensors: A Focus on Upper Limb Human Motion
BASE | 2017
|Gaze, visual, myoelectric, and inertial data of grasps for intelligent prosthetics
German Aerospace Center (DLR) | 2020
|Dynamic Analysis and Motion Measurement of Ski Turns Using Inertial and Force Sensors
Tema Archive | 2013
|