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This article proposes a comprehensive investigation of the automatic classification of functional gait disorders based solely on ground reaction force (GRF) measurements. The aim of the study is twofold: (1) to investigate the suitability of stateof-the-art GRF parameterization techniques (representations) for the discrimination of functional gait disorders; and (2) to provide a first performance baseline for the automated classification of functional gait disorders for a large-scale dataset. The utilized database comprises GRF measurements from 279 patients with gait disorders (GDs) and data from 161 healthy controls (N). Patients were manually classified into four classes with different functional impairments associated with the "hip", "knee", "ankle", and "calcaneus". Different parameterizations are investigated: GRF parameters, global principal component analysis (PCA)-based representations and a combined representation applying PCA on GRF parameters. The discriminative power of each parameterization for different classes is investigated by linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Based on this analysis, two classification experiments are pursued: (1) distinction between healthy and impaired gait (N vs. GD) and (2) multi-class classification between healthy gait and all four GD classes. Experiments show promising results and reveal among others that several factors, such as imbalanced class cardinalities and varying numbers of measurement sessions per patient have a strong impact on the classification accuracy and therefore need to be taken into account. The results represent a promising first step towards the automated classification of gait disorders and a first performance baseline for future developments in this direction., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics

BACKGROUND To ensure accurate implementation of stabilization exercises in rehabilitation, physical therapists need to understand the muscle activation patterns of prescribed exercise. OBJECTIVE Compare muscle activity during eight trunk and lumbar spine stabilization exercises of the Functional Kinetics concept by Klein-Vogelbach. METHODS A controlled laboratory study with a single-group repeated-measures design was utilized to analyze surface electromyographic intensities of 14 female and 6 male young healthy participants performing eight exercises. Data were captured from the rectus abdominis, external/internal oblique and lumbar paraspinalis. The normalized muscle activation levels (maximum voluntary isometric contraction, MVIC) for three repetitions during each exercise and muscle were analyzed. RESULTS Side bridging (28 ± 20%MVIC) and advanced planking (29 ± 20%MVIC) reached the highest activity in the rectus abdominis. For external and internal oblique muscles, side bridging also showed the greatest activity of 99 ± 36%MVIC and 52 ± 25%MVIC, respectively. Apart from side bridging (52 ± 14%MVIC), the supine roll-out (31 ± 12%MVIC) and prone roll-out (31 ± 9%MVIC) showed the greatest activity for the paraspinalis. The advanced quadruped, seated back extension and flexion on chair/Swiss Ball, prone roll-out and advanced one-leg back bridging only yielded negligible muscle activities for the rectus abdominis (< 5%MVIC). CONCLUSION Based on the data obtained, recommendations for selective trunk muscle activation during eight stabilization exercises were established, which will guide physical therapists in the development of exercises tailored to the needs of their patients.

Background and Purpose People with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) commonly have mobility impairments that may lead to falls and limitations in activities. Physiotherapy interventions that might improve mobility typically take several weeks. Balance-based torso-weighting (BBTW), a system of strategically placing light weights to improve response to balance perturbations, has resulted in immediate small improvements in clinical measures in PwMS, but changes in spatio-temporal gait parameters are unknown. The purpose was to investigate the effects of BBTW on gait parameters in PwMS and healthy controls.

Aging leads to gait impairments, which increases the risk for falls. In this study the impact of the auditory feedback system SONIGait on gait parameters in elderly persons was investigated. Twenty-one participants walked at self-selected speed with four variations of real-time auditory feedback of their plantar pressure. Repeated measures ANOVA was utilized to determine changes in time-distance parameters between walking without feedback and four feedback variations. After walking, they completed a questionnaire about their appraisal of the SONIGait system and the four different feedback modalities. There was a significant reduction in gait velocity (0.142 ± 0.04 m/s; p < 0.001) and prolongation of step time (0.02 ± 0.005 s; p < 0.001) during walking with SONIGait. No significant preference for any of the feedback variations was observed. Most participants evaluated the system SONIGait positively. Thus, real-time auditory feedback may be used in gait rehabilitation and may support an older person’s gait stability.

Parkinson’s disease PD patients frequently experience gait impairments. Auditory input has been shown to be an effective measure to benefit critical gait aspects related to the timing and initiation of movement. An instrumented shoe insole device for real-time sonification of gait has been developed for rehabilitation purposes (SONIGait). The objective of the present pilot study was to gain insight about possible effects of SONIGait on gait parameters in PD patients. Five PD patients participated in this pilot study and completed three series of trials with and without sonification. Spatio-temporal gait parameters were recorded during these trials. The outcomes revealed an increase in walking velocity and cadence along with other gait parameters between pre- and posttest. These data indicate that sonification affects gait parameters and fosters (short-term) learning effects in PD patients. Thus, SONIGait may be a suitable measure to promote gait rehabilitation in PD in the future.