Gait phase identification of various horse gaits using both wearable and video-based technologies
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Biomedical engineering (MPBME), MSc
Publicerad
2022
Författare
Elander, Rebecka
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Healthy gait consists of locomotion, balance and the ability to adapt to the environment.
The human gait cycle has been studied thoroughly and gait analysis has
been used for various applications. The biomechanics of the horse is well-known, but
there is a need to develop systems that can quantify the quality of equine gait, especially
in the real world. Inertial Measurement Units (IMU’s) are small, lightweight,
and ambulant sensors which can determine the position and orientation of the body
segments they have been placed on.
The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of using an Inertial Measurement
Unit (IMU) System, especially placed at the cannons, to identify the gait
phases for walk and trot, and to use an Optical Motion Capture System to validate
these with information from wearable sensors.
The positions of the hooves and cannons were tracked using Qualisys Track Manager.
The resultant acceleration of each position was calculated. The resultant acceleration
of Movebeat’s acceleration data, was computed in each sample. Hoof Strikes
and Toe Offs were detected using Tracker from video recordings from Qualisys.
The acceleration patterns were similar for Movebeat and Qualisys for both hooves
and cannons and the acceleration peaks almost coincided with Hoof Strike and Toe
Off. However, there were some parts of the pattern that differed, where one probable
explanation could be that the acceleration from Qualisys was estimated, while the
acceleration from Movebeat was measured.
The conclusions are that IMU’s placed on the cannons are able to identify the
gait events for walk and trot with accuracy, and that Hoof Strike and Toe Off
almost coincides with the acceleration peaks. However, further investigations of the
accelerations and the gyros in the different directions, x, y and z, need to be done
to simplify the identification of the gait phases. More studies need to be performed
to further validate the consistency of the identifications.
This study was a collaboration project between Chalmers University of Technology,
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and VectorizeMove AB.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
equine gait analysis , equine , gait , gait phase identification , walk , trot , IMU , biomechanics