Inertial-Sensor Gait Profiling Without Fragile Shoe Pressure Sensors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gait profiling systems using pressure sensors in shoes are inaccurate, brittle, and require customization, limiting their effectiveness and durability.
Innovation Solution
A gait profiler system utilizing inertial sensors and external sensors on the right and left foot, shank, thigh, and trunk, combined with a processor to determine stance and swing states, and generate a gait profile using sensor fusion algorithms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pressure sensors are used to determine gait profile, then gait information can be obtained, but the system becomes brittle and breaks after short use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces pressure sensors (mechanical contact-based detection) with inertial sensors that use accelerometers and gyroscopes to detect motion and orientation. This substitution eliminates the brittleness and fragility of pressure sensors while maintaining the ability to determine gait profile through motion analysis rather than pressure measurement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces inertial measurement units (IMUs) as intermediary devices that capture gait information through motion and orientation data. These IMUs serve as a mediator between the user's movement and the gait profile determination, avoiding direct pressure contact and its associated reliability issues.
2Adaptability or versatility
If pressure sensors are placed in the sole of the shoe, then gait information can be obtained, but the system requires customization for different shoes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs inertial sensors that can be mounted on various body parts (foot, shank, thigh, trunk) and function across different shoe types without customization. The sensors detect gait through motion and orientation, making the system universally applicable to all shoes and even suitable for users who don't wear shoes, eliminating the need for shoe-specific pressure sensor integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from measuring pressure in the horizontal plane (sole contact) to measuring motion and orientation in three-dimensional space. This dimensional shift allows the system to capture gait information from multiple body segments, making it independent of shoe sole characteristics and universally applicable.
3Measurement precision
If pressure sensors are used, then gait information can be obtained, but the accuracy is sensitive to user's specific stance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the gait measurement system into multiple independent inertial sensor units placed on different body segments (right foot, left foot, shanks, thighs, trunk). Each sensor independently measures local motion and orientation, and the system integrates these segmented measurements to determine overall gait profile. This segmentation eliminates dependency on any single stance configuration, as the system can process data from multiple independent sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses inertial sensors as intermediaries that measure motion and orientation rather than direct pressure contact. This intermediary approach captures gait dynamics through kinematic parameters that are independent of specific stance configurations, making the measurement accurate across various user positions and foot placements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Provides accurate and durable gait profiling by overcoming the limitations of pressure sensors, ensuring precise determination of user's locomotion states and optimizing torque profiles for assistive mobility devices.
Implementation Method 1
a first inertial sensor; a second inertial sensor; receiving biomechanics information about the user from the first and second inertial sensors
Implementation Method 2
a first set of external sensors observing a right shank, thigh and trunk spatial orientation; a second set of external sensors observing a left shank, thigh and trunk spatial orientation
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and method for determining the gait profile of a user. The gait profiler system uses sensing systems that include inertial sensors configured to be positioned at the right and left foot-ankle structure, as well as spatial orientation of lower extremity body segments (shanks, thighs, and trunk) of the person for which the gait profile is to be determined. In an illustrative embodiment, the gait profiler system uses two additional inertial sensors at the left and right leg-knee or thigh- hip structure as well as sensors providing information indicative of the angular positions of the left and right knee and thigh, which may be provided by an exoskeieton or orthotic devices worn by the user. The determination of the gait profile of the user is then performed using biomechanics information about the user from the inertial sensors combined with the knee and hip angles.