Evaluating the Impact of IMU Sensor Location and Walking Task on Accuracy of Gait Event Detection Algorithms

There are several algorithms that use the 3D acceleration and/or rotational velocity vectors from IMU sensors to identify gait events (i.e., toe-off and heel-strike). However, a clear understanding of how sensor location and the type of walking task effect the accuracy of gait event detection algorithms is lacking. To address this knowledge gap, seven participants were recruited (4M/3F; 26.0 ± 4.0 y/o) to complete a straight walking task and obstacle navigation task while data were collected from IMUs placed on the foot and shin. Five different commonly used algorithms to identify the toe-off and heel-strike gait events were applied to each sensor location on a given participant. Gait metrics were calculated for each sensor/algorithm combination using IMUs and a reference pressure sensing walkway. Results show algorithms using medial-lateral rotational velocity and anterior-posterior acceleration are fairly robust against different sensor locations and walking tasks. Certain algorithms applied to heel and lower lateral shank sensor locations will result in degraded algorithm performance when calculating gait metrics for curved walking compared to straight overground walking. Understanding how certain types of algorithms perform for given sensor locations and tasks can inform robust clinical protocol development using wearable technology to characterize gait in both laboratory and real-world settings.