Wearable Gait Evaluation Using Stride Length Weighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gait evaluation systems fail to easily measure both the quantity and quality of walking exercises, as they often require specialized environments or devices, limiting their usability outdoors and effectiveness in assessing walking quality.
Innovation Solution
A gait evaluation system that includes wearable measurement devices to acquire quantitative and qualitative parameters such as stride length, arm swing angle, and cadence, using evaluation formulas to determine walking form and exercise effects, allowing for easy measurement and output of walking results.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If image capture devices are used to evaluate walking quality, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and ease of operation worsen due to requiring special environments and dedicated equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces image capture devices and dedicated stretch sensors with wearable motion sensors that detect body movement. This substitution enables qualitative parameter measurement (stride length, arm swing angle, cadence) through simple wearable devices rather than complex imaging systems or specialized sensor attachments, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and ease of operation.
2Measurement precision
If dedicated stretch sensors are attached to body parts to calculate kinetic energy, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and ease of operation worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces dedicated stretch sensors attached to body parts with wearable motion sensors that measure body movement. This eliminates the need for specialized sensor attachment while maintaining measurement capability through alternative detection methods, reducing device complexity and improving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The wearable motion sensors serve multiple functions: they measure both quantitative parameters (walking distance, time) and qualitative parameters (stride length, arm swing angle, cadence). This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated sensors for different measurement types, reducing overall device complexity.
3Measurement precision
If walking exercise quality is evaluated using specialized systems, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation and adaptability worsen due to limited outdoor usability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces specialized evaluation systems with wearable motion sensors that can operate in outdoor environments. This substitution enables both quantitative and qualitative parameter measurement in natural walking conditions rather than controlled settings, improving adaptability while maintaining measurement precision.
Data Source
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AI summary
In a gait evaluation system (100), qualitative measurement value acquirers (40, 80) acquire at least measurement values of a stride length and a cadence as qualitative parameters indicating a walking form, measured by a measurement device (20) worn by a subject. A qualitative result determination unit (96) determines an evaluation result regarding a walking form using, as a certain evaluation model, an evaluation formula set such that a weight is added at least to the measurement value of the stride length. The measurement value of the stride length is a ratio of an average stride length to the height of the subject measured.