Design and validation of a multi-task, multi-context protocol for real-world gait simulation
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, vol. 19, pp. 141
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Measuring mobility in daily life entails dealing with confounding factors arising from multiple sources, including pathological characteristics, patient specific walking strategies, environment/context, and purpose of the task. The primary aim of this study is to propose and validate a protocol for simulating real-world gait accounting for all these factors within a single set of observations, while ensuring minimisation of participant burden and safety. METHODS: The protocol included eight motor tasks at varying speed, incline/steps, surface, path shape, cognitive demand, and included postures that may abruptly alter the participants' strategy of walking. It was deployed in a convenience sample of 108 participants recruited from six cohorts that included older healthy adults (HA) and participants with potentially altered mobility due to Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple sclerosis (MS), proximal femoral fracture (PFF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or congestive heart failure (CHF). A novelty introduced in the protocol was the tiered approach to increase difficulty both within the same task (e.g., by allowing use of aids or armrests) and across tasks. RESULTS: The protocol proved to be safe and feasible (all participants could complete it and no adverse events were recorded) and the addition of the more complex tasks allowed a much greater spread in walking speeds to be achieved compared to standard straight walking trials. Furthermore, it allowed a representation of a variety of daily life relevant mobility aspects and can therefore be used for the validation of monitoring devices used in real life. CONCLUSIONS: The protocol allowed for measuring gait in a variety of pathological conditions suggests that it can also be used to detect changes in gait due to, for example, the onset or progression of a disease, or due to therapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN-12246987.
Authors 44
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Kirsty Scott corresponding
Insigneo · University of Sheffield
Affiliation as printed
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Insigneo Institute for in Silico Medicine, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. kscott3@sheffield.ac.uk
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. kscott3@sheffield.ac.uk
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Insigneo Institute for in Silico Medicine, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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Insigneo · University of Sheffield
Affiliation as printed
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Insigneo Institute for in Silico Medicine, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
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Affiliation as printed
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Insigneo · University of Sheffield
Affiliation as printed
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Insigneo Institute for in Silico Medicine, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
Affiliation as printed
Center for the Study of Movement, Cognition and Mobility, Neurological Institute, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel
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University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein
Affiliation as printed
Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Robert Bosch Gesellschaft für Medizinische Forschung, Stuttgart, Germany
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École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Affiliation as printed
Laboratory of Movement Analysis and Measurement, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
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University of Sassari · Politecnico di Torino
Affiliation as printed
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
PolitoBIOMed Lab, Biomedical Engineering Lab, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering «Guglielmo Marconi», University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Health Sciences and Technologies-Interdepartmental Center for Industrial Research (CIRI-SDV), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Affiliation as printed
Department of Neuroscience and Sheffield NIHR Translational Neuroscience BRC, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
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University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein
Affiliation as printed
Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Robert Bosch Gesellschaft für Medizinische Forschung, Stuttgart, Germany
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Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
Affiliation as printed
Center for the Study of Movement, Cognition and Mobility, Neurological Institute, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, Northumbria University Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Affiliation as printed
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Affiliation as printed
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Affiliation as printed
Machine Learning and Data Analytics Lab, Department of Artificial Intelligence in Biomedical Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
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École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Affiliation as printed
Laboratory of Movement Analysis and Measurement, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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University College Dublin · Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics
Affiliation as printed
Insight Centre for Data Analytics, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
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Affiliation as printed
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Novartis (Switzerland) · Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg · Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research
Affiliation as printed
Machine Learning and Data Analytics Lab, Department of Artificial Intelligence in Biomedical Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research, Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland
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Affiliation as printed
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Novartis (Switzerland) · Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research
Affiliation as printed
Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research, Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland
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Affiliation as printed
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Affiliation as printed
McRoberts BV, The Hague, The Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering «Guglielmo Marconi», University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Health Sciences and Technologies-Interdepartmental Center for Industrial Research (CIRI-SDV), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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Affiliation as printed
Digital Health R&D, AstraZeneca, Sweden
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University College Dublin · Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics
Affiliation as printed
Insight Centre for Data Analytics, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
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Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Affiliation as printed
Machine Learning and Data Analytics Lab, Department of Artificial Intelligence in Biomedical Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
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Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Affiliation as printed
Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
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Affiliation as printed
Grünenthal GmbH, Aachen, Germany
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Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Affiliation as printed
Department of Neuroscience and Sheffield NIHR Translational Neuroscience BRC, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
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University College Dublin · Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics
Affiliation as printed
Insight Centre for Data Analytics, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
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Universitat Pompeu Fabra · Barcelona Institute for Global Health · Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública
Affiliation as printed
Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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Universitat Pompeu Fabra · Barcelona Institute for Global Health · Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública
Affiliation as printed
Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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Universitat Pompeu Fabra · Barcelona Institute for Global Health · Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública
Affiliation as printed
Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Affiliation as printed
Machine Learning and Data Analytics Lab, Department of Artificial Intelligence in Biomedical Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
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Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Newcastle University
Affiliation as printed
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Newcastle University
Affiliation as printed
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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University of Sassari · Politecnico di Torino
Affiliation as printed
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
PolitoBIOMed Lab, Biomedical Engineering Lab, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
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Insigneo · University of Sheffield
Affiliation as printed
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Insigneo Institute for in Silico Medicine, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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