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The conventional gait model, an open-source implementation that reproduces the past but prepares for the future

Authors:
  • Moveck Solution inc.

Abstract

Background: The Conventional Gait Model (CGM), known by a variety of different names, is widely used in clinical gait analysis. We present pyCGM2, an open-source implementation of the CGM with two versions. The first, CGM1.0, is a clone of Vicon Plug In Gait (PiG) with all its variants. CGM1.0 provides a platform to test the effect of modifications to the CGM on data collected and processed retrospectively or to provide backward compatibility. The second version, CGM1.1, offers some practical modifications and includes three well documented improvements. Research question: How do improvements of the conventional gait model affect joint kinematics and kinetics? Method: The practical modifications include the possibility to use a medial knee epicondyle marker, during static calibration only, to define the medio-lateral axis of the femur in place of the knee alignment device. The three improvements correspond to the change of pelvis angle decomposition sequence, the adoption of a single tibia coordinate system, and the default decomposition of the joint moments in the joint coordinate system. We validated the outputs of version CGM1.0 against Vicon-PiG, and estimated the effect of the modifications included in version CGM1.1 using gait data collected in 16 healthy participants. Results: Kinematics and kinetics of CGM1.0 were superimposed with that of Vicon-PiG, with root mean square differences less than 0.04° for kinematics and less than 0.05 N.m.kg-1 for kinetics. Significance: The differences between the CGM1.1 and CGM1.0 were minimal in the healthy participant cohort but we discussed the expected difference in participants with different gait pathologies. We hope that the pyCGM2 will facilitate the systematic testing and the use of improved processing methods for the conventional gait model.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Gait & Posture
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/gaitpost
The conventional gait model, an open-source implementation that
reproduces the past but prepares for the future
F. Leboeuf
a,
, R. Baker
a
, A. Barré
b
, J. Reay
a
, R. Jones
a
, M. Sangeux
c
a
School of Health & Society, The University of Salford, UK
b
Moveck Solution inc., Canada
c
The Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
ARTICLE INFO
Keywords:
Conventional gait model
Gait analysis
Python
Open-source
ABSTRACT
Background: The Conventional Gait Model (CGM), known by a variety of dierent names, is widely used in
clinical gait analysis. We present pyCGM2, an open-source implementation of the CGM with two versions. The
rst, CGM1.0, is a clone of Vicon Plug In Gait (PiG) with all its variants. CGM1.0 provides a platform to test the
eect of modications to the CGM on data collected and processed retrospectively or to provide backward
compatibility. The second version, CGM1.1, oers some practical modications and includes three well docu-
mented improvements.
Research question: How do improvements of the conventional gait model aect joint kinematics and kinetics?
Method: The practical modications include the possibility to use a medial knee epicondyle marker, during static
calibration only, to dene the medio-lateral axis of the femur in place of the knee alignment device. The three
improvements correspond to the change of pelvis angle decomposition sequence, the adoption of a single tibia
coordinate system, and the default decomposition of the joint moments in the joint coordinate system. We
validated the outputs of version CGM1.0 against Vicon-PiG, and estimated the eect of the modications in-
cluded in version CGM1.1 using gait data collected in 16 healthy participants.
Results: Kinematics and kinetics of CGM1.0 were superimposed with that of Vicon-PiG, with root mean square
dierences less than 0.04° for kinematics and less than 0.05 N.m.kg-1 for kinetics.
Signicance: The dierences between the CGM1.1 and CGM1.0 were minimal in the healthy participant cohort
but we discussed the expected dierence in participants with dierent gait pathologies. We hope that the
pyCGM2 will facilitate the systematic testing and the use of improved processing methods for the conventional
gait model.
1. Introduction
The Conventional Gait Model (CGM) is the predominant bio-
mechanical model used in clinical gait analysis [1]. Originating in the
1970s and developed by various individuals [1,2], the strengths asso-
ciated with the CGM include being understandable by a large com-
munity, even non-experts in Biomechanics [1]. The CGM became
popular because it was distributed as a package (rst Vicon Clinical
Manager, then Plug in Gait) within the Vicon (Oxford Metrics, UK)
clinical motion capture software.
Extensive application of the CGM in clinics and medical research
[2,3] have exposed the model to criticism. For example, the lack of
accuracy in positioning the thigh and shank segment wand-mounted
markers has been responsible for large errors in the denition of the
coronal planes for these segments [4,5]. The Knee Alignment Device
(KAD) [6] was introduced to reduce these errors, by improving the
location of the Knee Joint Centre (KJC) and the alignment of the medio-
lateral axis of the femur with the trans-epicondylar axis. However, use
of the KAD may be outdated now that most clinical gait analysis sys-
tems have resolutions sucient to capture a small (i.e. < 9 mm in
diameter) additional reective marker on the medial femoral epi-
condyle.
Similarly, the clinical relevance of CGM outputs may benet from
research that has been published since its inception but have not been
implemented yet. For example, Baker et al. [7] demonstrated that the
CGMs angular decomposition does not correspond to the clinical de-
nition of the terms for the pelvis. Pelvis tilt is dened clinically as the
rotation of the pelvis around its medio-lateral axis, but it is calculated
by the CGM as the rotation around the medio-lateral axis of the la-
boratorys coordinate system.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2019.01.034
Received 20 March 2018; Received in revised form 21 January 2019; Accepted 22 January 2019
Corresponding author at: School of Health & Society, Brian Blatchford Building, Frederick Road Campus, Salford, M6 6PU, UK.
E-mail address: f.leboeuf@salford.ac.uk (F. Leboeuf).
Gait & Posture 69 (2019) 126–129
0966-6362/ Crown Copyright © 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
T
Schache et al. [8] showed that the decomposition of joint moments
in dierent coordinate systems leads to dierent outputs. In a further
study, [9], they suggested the Joint Coordinate System (JCS) was more
indicative of clinical understanding and may be preferred for the re-
porting of joint moments. However, the current implementation of the
CGM does not allow to decompose in the JCS, it only allows to de-
compose the joint moments in the proximal or the distal segments
coordinate system. In addition, decomposition in the distal segment is
the default option but Passmore and Sangeux [10] have shown that
decomposition in the distal segment is problematic for the hip joint
when the subject presents with torsional deformities in the lower limb,
which is a common clinical problem.
Various projects have attempted to replicate the CGM. The Advanced
Gait Work Flow, distributed by Vicon and written in Matlab (The
Mathworks Inc., Natick, USA) has been proposed but is not validated
against the CGM. Open-source versions, including pyCGM [11] in py-
thon, the Biomechanical Toolkit project in C++ [12] and BiomechZoo
in Matlab [13], have also been proposed. However, these im-
plementations have only tackled the basic CGM options, they did not
include improvement of the static calibration with the KAD, precluding
utility to many users.
The commercial software Visual 3D (C-Motion, Inc., Germantown,
USA) has implemented all CGM variants, but has not replicated Vicon-
PiG outputs exactly [14]. In Visual 3D, the segment pose is estimated
through least-square segment tting, which is dierent from CGMs
direct kinematics [1].
This paper aims to present an open-source implementation of the
CGM, pyCGM2 [15]. The pyCGM2 package proposes two versions: the
CGM1.0 which replicates outputs of the Vicon-PiG implementation, and
the CGM1.1 which addresses the shortcomings of the Vicon-PiG im-
plementation without modifying the core of the model.
We present a comprehensive overview of the current Vicon-PiG
variants and the improvements we implemented in the pyCGM2 version
CGM1.1. We validated the implementation of the CGM1.0 against the
Vicon-PiG outputs, and determined the dierences between the
CGM1.0 and CGM1.1 versions in a healthy population.
2. Method
2.1. Variants of the CGM
The original version of the CGM as implemented in Vicon-PiG is
well described (Fig. 1a) [16]. An improved variant, using the knee
alignment device (KAD), was introduced but was not clearly referenced
in the literature [6]. The KAD is clamped to the medial and lateral
epicondyles of the knee and denes the coronal plane of the femur
(Fig. 1b, the KAD variant). Rotational osets between the KAD and the
thigh and shank wand markers are stored in the parameter le during
static calibration and applied during the processing of dynamic trials.
A second variant (Fig 1c, the KAD-med variant) added the use of a
calibration marker on the ankle medial malleolus to dene the trans-
malleolar axis and the coronal plane of the tibia. Tibial torsion can then
be calculated during static calibration (and output as knee rotation
kinematics in the static trial) and the tibia is modelled as two segments:
one, proximal aligned with the femur, and one, distal aligned with the
trans-malleolar axis. During dynamic processing, the proximal tibia
section is used to calculate knee kinematics, whereas the distal tibia
section is used to calculate ankle kinematics. This explains why Vicon-
PiG knee rotation kinematics has a mean value over the gait cycle that
is approximately zero, since the medio-lateral axes of the femur and
proximal tibia coordinate systems were aligned during static calibra-
tion. Without the use of a proximal tibia coordinate system to calculate
knee kinematics, knee rotation kinematics would oscillate around the
value of tibial torsion. The average knee rotation kinematics over the
gait cycle would therefore be non-zero since tibial torsion is non-zero in
normal subjects, because the ankle transmalleolar axis is known to be
externally rotated with respect to the femoral epicondyles. Our ex-
perience indicates that most gait analysts are not aware of this subtlety
in Vicon-PiG.
We also identied a processing error due to the complexity of
dealing with two tibia coordinate systems. During static calibration the
heel marker (HEE) may be used to determine the alignment of the
longitudinal axis of the foot (dened as the vector from HEE to the
forefoot marker, TOE) with respect to the vector from the ankle joint
centre (AJC) to the TOE marker. This process allows to remove the HEE
marker during dynamic trial and may be used to adjust for sole height
dierences [17,18]. The alignment of the longitudinal axis of the foot is
stored as two parameters: the static plantarexion and rotation osets
obtained through decomposing the orientation of the HEE-TOE axis
compared to the AJC-TOE axis with respect to the medio-lateral and
longitudinal axes of the static distal tibia coordinate system, respec-
tively. However, these parameters are applied to the proximal tibia
coordinate system during dynamic processing which introduces a small
error in the ankle inversion/eversion kinematics.
2.2. pyCGM2 implementation
The pyCGM2 package has been developed as an open-source plat-
form to replicate the CGM, to allow users to explore the code, and to
provide a common platform to integrate improved processing methods.
The pyCGM2 is written in python and employs standard python
packages for numerical computation. The pyCGM2 is supplemented
with the Biomechanical ToolKit (BTK) [12] and its evolution Open
Movement Analysis (OpenMA) [19]. Both oer convenient methods for
handling c3d les.
A pyCGM2 program is composed of a series of blocks or lters, each
performing a specic operation, like computation of kinematics or ki-
netics. The pyCGM2 can be used to replicate the processing and outputs
of the Vicon-PiG operations exactly. Therefore, the operations called
PiG static and Pig Dynamic within Vicon Nexus have been implemented
and named pyCGM2 Calibration and pyCGM2 Fitting respectively. The
Calibration operation constructs a geometric multi-segment model by
locating joint centres and computing segment osets, and outputs static
joint angles. The Fitting operation ts the calibrated model to the
marker data and performs the kinematics and kinetics analyses.
In its CGM1.0 version, the pyCGM2 was designed to replicate Vicon-
PiG outputs exactly. The kinematics are obtained using the same
Cardan angle decomposition sequences and adopt the same sign con-
ventions. The KAD-med variant includes two tibia coordinate systems
and we reproduced the processing error pertaining to the oset para-
meters that describe the alignment of the longitudinal axis of the foot.
The kinetics are computed from inverse dynamics using anthropo-
metric segment measurements according to Dempster [20]. Inverse
dynamic calculations follow the iterative Newton-Euler equations de-
scribed in Dumas et al. [21], where linear velocities and accelerations
are computed with quintic-spline tting derivation (function : splev of
the Numpy package [22]) and 2
nd
order numerical dierentiation of the
rotation matrix for angular quantities.
2.3. CGM1.1: a CGM as it should work
2.3.1. Practical improvement
Most current gait analysis services are equipped with motion cap-
ture systems able to collect the position of medial knee markers. The
CGM1.1 allows the option of using medial epicondyle knee markers
instead of a KAD while maintaining the same logic as the KAD or KAD-
med variants. The medial epicondyle knee markers can be removed
after static calibration to avoid subject discomfort during dynamic
trials. This is already the case for the medial malleolus ankle markers.
We also corrected the processing error pertaining to the oset para-
meters that describe the alignment of the longitudinal axis of the foot.
F. Leboeuf et al. Gait & Posture 69 (2019) 126–129
127
2.3.2. Clinically relevant methods
After almost three decades of extensive use and testing in the clin-
ical setting, we believe there are three modications to the CGM that
are required immediately. It is important to note that these modica-
tions do not alter the core characteristics of the CGM as a model but aim
to clarify the clinical interpretation of the kinematic or kinetic outputs.
Firstly, the Cardan sequence for the pelvis kinematics is modied to
a Rotation-Obliquity-Tilt mobile axes sequence. This choice ensures
that pelvis rotation reects the rotation of the pelvis with respect to the
vertical axis of the laboratory, and that pelvis tilt is the rotation of the
pelvis around its medio-lateral axis, and not around the medio-lateral
axis of the laboratory [7]. Secondly, the CGM1.1 implements a single
tibia coordinate system using the transmalleolar axis to avoid the
confusion between Vicon-PiG static (which uses the torsioned tibia) and
dynamic (which uses the untorsioned tibia) knee rotation outputs.
Thirdly, the default projection of the joint moments is in the JCS rather
than in the distal segment coordinate system to improve clinical in-
terpretation of kinetic graphs [9,10,23].
2.4. Validation
A dataset comprised of 3D gait data of 16 healthy adult participants
(8 males and 8 females, with a mean age of 33 ± 17 years, height of
1.68 ± 0.10 m, mass of 64 ± 15 kg and Body Mass Index (BMI) of
23.0 ± 3.6 kg/m
2
) was used to validate the replication of Vicon-PiG
(CGM1.0) and to estimate the dierences induced by the modications
implemented in the CGM1.1. Static calibration was carried out with the
KAD-Med variant. Joint moments were decomposed into the distal
segment for both Vicon-PiG-KAD-Med and its clone (CGM1.0-KAD-
Med). Quantication of dierences were calculated using the Root
Mean Square Dierence (RMSD):
=
=
R
MSD nqiqi
1(() ())
i
n
CGM PiG
1
2
where qrepresents either kinematic of kinetic outputs, and nis the
number of frame (i.e. 101).
Although ankle inversion/eversion is calculated by the conventional
gait model, the default markerset used for the foot segment does not
allow an accurate measurement for this parameter. We included ankle
inversion/eversion in our comparison only to provide a comprehensive
comparison.
3. Results
Table 1 presents the dierence between Vicon-PiG-KAD-Med,
pyCGM2 clone (CGM1.0-KAD-Med) and the new version (CGM1.1-
KAD-Med). The CGM1.0 kinematic outputs were almost identical to
Vicon-PiG. Maximal RMSD was 0.04° for ankle dorsi/plantar-exion.
Maximum RMSD was 0.05 N.m.kg-1 for the hip exion/extension mo-
ment.
Regarding the comparison between CGM1.0 and CGM1.1, the
change in Cardan angle decomposition sequence at the pelvis had
minimal eect. RMSD in the three planes were less than 0.8°. As ex-
pected, the knee rotation trace (Fig 1) exhibited a large RMSD (17.2°)
which matched average tibial torsion (17°). The Vicon-PiG exhibited a
marked ankle eversion in swing phase, whereas ankle eversion was
neutral with CGM1.1. Finally, the projection of moments into the JCS
instead of the distal segment did not result in marked dierences in our
healthy cohort (Fig 3).
4. Discussion
We have proposed pyCGM2, an open-source platform to replicate
the CGM as implemented in Vicon-PiG in its version CGM1.0, and to
implement three clinically relevant improvements in its version
CGM1.1. The three improvements were: (i) change of angle decom-
position sequence for the pelvis, (ii) adoption of a single segment de-
nition for the tibia, and (iii) default decomposition of the moments in
the JCS coordinate system. Vicon-PiG was compared to CGM1.0 in a
cohort of 16 healthy participants to validate our implementation and
was compared to CGM1.1 to estimate the dierences induced by the
improvements in normative reference datasets.
We showed that pyCGM2 version CGM1.0 produces almost identical
outputs compared to Vicon-PiGs implementation of the CGM.
Therefore, gait analysts may use one or the other interchangeably. The
improved version, CGM1.1, produced similar outputs in a healthy co-
hort, with the exception of knee rotation kinematics which oscillates
around the value calculated for tibial torsion during static calibration
for CGM 1.1, rather than zero with CGM 1.0.
Similar outputs for CGM 1.0 and 1.1 in a healthy cohort are desir-
able for practical reasons since it indicates that the eect of these CGM
versions will be minimal on published, or laboratory-based, normative
datasets. It is important to note however that data collected by the
dierent clinical gait centres for their normative datasets may be
readily reprocessed using CGM1.1.
The absence of major dierences in this studys healthy cohort does
not imply there would be no dierences in individuals with gait
pathologies, depending on their pathology. The dierences to expect
between CGM1.0 and CGM1.1 in individuals with gait pathologies are
well documented for each of the three modications we included in
CGM1.1.
Baker et al. showed that the change of the pelvis angular decom-
position sequence primarily aects subjects walking with large pelvis
rotation or large pelvic obliquity, which are two common clinical pre-
sentations [7].
The adoption of a unique segment denition for the tibia claries
the interpretation of knee rotation kinematics as composed of tibial
Table 1
Root mean square dierence between Vicon-PiG (KAD-MED Variant) and both pyCGM2 versions: CGM1.0 (the PiG clone) and CGM1.1 (the PiG as it should (have)
work(ed)). Zero indicates a value inferior to 0.01.
Version Angles (°) Mean(sd) Moment (Nm. kg
1
) Mean(sd) Power (W. kg
1
) Mean(sd)
Sagittal Coronal Transversal sagittal coronal transversal
Pelvis CGM1.0 0 0 0 ––– –
CGM1.1 0.21(0.13) 0.76(0.42) 0.42(0.24) ––– –
Hip CGM1.0 0 0.01(0.05) 0.03(0.14) 0.04(0.02) 0.02(0.01) 0 0
CGM1.1 0 0.01(0.05) 0.03(0.14) 0.07(0.02) 0.06(0.04) 0 0.06(0.04)
Knee CGM1.0 0.01(0.05) 0.01(0.05) 0.03(0.14) 0.02(0) 0 0 0
CGM1.1 0.01(0.05) 0.02(0.11) 17.3(7.4) 0.03(0.01) 0.04(0.02) 0 0.08(0.03)
Ankle CGM1.0 0.04(0.26) 0.02(0.11) 0.02(0.11) 0.01(0) 0 0 0
CGM1.1 0.16(0.27) 3.21(1.72) 0.48(0.37) 0.01(0) 0 0.02(0.01) 0.06(0.03)
Foot CGM1.0 ––0.02(0.11) ––– –
CGM1.1 ––0.48(0.37) ––– –
F. Leboeuf et al. Gait & Posture 69 (2019) 126–129
128
torsion plus the knee dynamic rotation. Many individuals with pa-
thology undergoing clinical gait analysis present with large tibial tor-
sion. With Vicon-PiG, or CGM1.0, the value of tibial torsion is hidden in
the parameter le and does not appear in the knee rotation kinematics.
This sometimes leads to inecient reasoning, whereby clinicians need
to add multiple transverse plane kinematics (pelvis, hip, knee, ankle
and foot progression) to estimate a static parameter, tibial torsion, that
is readily available in the parameter le but not apparent in the kine-
matics graph. With the CGM1.1 version, tibial torsion appears in the
knee rotation kinematics graph directly. We believe this may not only
clarify, but probably even fast-track clinical interpretation.
Furthermore, it is likely to facilitate comparison with alternative
models that also use a single denition for the tibia [9,10].
The use of the joint coordinate system as the default option to
project the 3D vector of the net joint moment leads to major dierences
whenever transverse plane joint rotations are large, for example in
subjects with large internal/external hip rotation or large internal/ex-
ternal knee rotation [10]. The default setting in Vicon-PiG is to de-
compose the moment in the distal segment coordinate system. As a
result, the component of the net joint moment vector lying in the sa-
gittal plane of the femur, rather than that of the pelvis, is currently
called hip extensor/exor moment. Similarly, when using a single tibia
coordinate system, the component of the knee moment vector projected
in the sagittal plane of the tibia (determined using the ankle trans-
malleolar axis) is labelled knee exor/extensor moment.
On the contrary, the default choice of the joint coordinate system
aligns well with the interpretation of muscle groups acting as motor
torques, although the limitations of such interpretation need to be
considered carefully [23].
In conclusion, this study has produced an open-source package,
pyCGM2, that delivers both a clone to Vicon-PiG and an updated ver-
sion of the CGM, CGM 1.1, that addresses what we believe are the most
pressing improvements to the CGM. The open-source package intends
to serve as a platform to test new methods, to evaluate the changes
induced by the new methods systematically, and to support multi-
centric studies.
Conict of interest statement
Fabien Leboeuf, Richard Baker and Morgan Sangeux received
funding from Vicon (Oxford UK)
We conrm that the manuscript has been read and approved by all
named authors and that there are no other persons who satised the
criteria for authorship but are not listed. We further conrm that the
order of authors listed in the manuscript has been approved by all of us.
We further conrm that any aspect of the work covered in this
manuscript that has involved humans has been conducted with the
ethical approval of all relevant bodies and that such approvals are ac-
knowledged within the manuscript.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by The University of Salford, United-
Kingdom. Funding was also provided by Vicon (Oxford, UK).
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... Model 2 (Leboeuf et al., 2019). Ce modèle a déjà été présenté dans la partie 2. La méthodologie est identique. ...
... sujet était équipé de 38 marqueurs comme présenté dans le Chapitre 5 et illustré par laFigure 41. Les marqueurs des membres inférieurs ont été placés suivant la proposition CGM2(Leboeuf et al., 2019). partie nous n'avons cependant pas utilisé les mêmes centrales qu'au Chapitre 5. Ainsi, 7 centrales inertielles de la société Xsens ont ici été utilisées (Enschede, Pays-Bas). ...
... Celle-ci est extraite du Conventional Gait Model et sera donc nommée CGM. Suivant ce modèle, l'équation de régression de HARA est ici utilisée pour obtenir le centre articulaire de hanche(Hara et al., 2016) tandis que les centres articulaires du genou et de la cheville sont définis respectivement comme le milieu des deux épicondyles et le milieu des deux malléoles(Leboeuf et al., 2019).Afin de définir la justesse de la définition des vecteurs segmentaires par l'intermédiaire des calibrages centrale-à-segment, un angle d'erreur est calculé pendant la posture statique. Cette erreur représente l'angle entre le vecteur segmentaire extrait du calibrage centrale-à-segment ...
Thesis
L’analyse du mouvement humain est un paramètre clé pour comprendre les différentes problématiques de la locomotion humaine. Qui plus est, il est nécessaire que ces analyses soient effectuées au plus proche de la locomotion réelle. L’essor de la miniaturisation des capteurs et des technologies sans fil a permis d’offrir la possibilité d’utiliser les centrales inertielles sur le terrain. Mais différentes problématiques existent encore pour obtenir la cinématique des membres inférieurs avec les centrales inertielles.La première étude de ce manuscrit aborde une comparaison des différents calibrages centrale-à-segment pour définir le passage entre l’orientation de la centrale inertielle et le segment sous-jacent. Nous avons mis en avant une méthode qui valide ces critères au mieux et ne demande que deux postures et un dispositif simple. Mais la cinématique obtenue reste entachée d’erreurs qui pourraient être dues à la présence d’artefacts de tissu mou.C’est pourquoi dans une seconde partie nous étudions la possibilité de diminuer ces effets par l’intermédiaire de l’optimisation multisegmentaire. Ainsi nous avons pu mettre en avant la nécessité de bien paramétrer le modèle derrière l’optimisation sans pour autant présenter un apport significatif. Enfin, en dernière partie, nous proposons d’appliquer la méthodologie de traitement de la cinématique articulaire sur une population pathologique, en collaboration avec le laboratoire de cinésiologie Willy Taillard des HUG et de l’Université de Genève. En conclusion cette thèse propose un processus méthodologique et des recommandations pour développer des analyses de la cinématique en milieu écologique avec des centrales inertielles.
... The subjects were equipped with 38 reflective markers as presented in Fig. 1. Lower-body markers were placed following the Conventional Gait Model version2 marker set [13]. Four additional markers were positioned on a homemade anatomical pelvis device (Fig. 2). ...
... To obtain the joint kinematics, the relative orientation between the CS of the joint proximal segment and the CS of the joint distal segment was computed using the Euler angle sequences "medio-lateral, antero-posterior, longitudinal axes", following the ISB recommendations [17]. The pelvis was computed relative to the global CS, the X-axis of the global optoelectronic system CS being aligned with the foot progression, as is commonly performed in movement analysis [13]. For the IMUs, the X and Y axes of the global CS were rotated such that the X axis corresponded to the mean of the anteroposterior axis of the pelvis obtained during the activity. ...
Article
A pre-requisite for obtaining human movement kinematics from Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) is to define the relative orientation between the IMU coordinate systems and that of the underlying segment: a step called sensor-to-segment (S2S) calibration. Many S2S calibration methods have been proposed in the literature for the lower-body segments. However, these methods were not compared in a single study and the methodology differences between the studies make an objective assessment of the proposed S2S methods impossible. The present study aims firstly to compare different S2S calibration methods of the lower limbs in terms of accuracy, repeatability, and usability, and secondly to specify the impact of the S2S calibration method on lower-body kinematics. In Experiment 1, two postures, eight active, and five passive movements, and the use of a device were tested to define lower-body segment axes. To isolate the effect of the S2S calibration methods from IMU measures, the IMU measure was mimicked using marker trajectories tracked by an optoelectronic system. The angles between the segment axes obtained with the S2S calibration methods and axes of reference based on an optoelectronic methodology were then compared during a study involving fifteen subjects. The results do not reveal unique methods, but enable some to be discarded in terms of angle error and repeatability. Following these results, scoring of the methods was proposed in order to help select the most suitable S2S calibration methods given experimental context or subject ability. In Experiment 2, three kinematics obtained with IMUs after S2S calibrations combining the best previous methods, and kinematics obtained with the reference, were compared through RMSE, correlation coefficients, and difference in range of motion during gait, running, and cycling on an ergocycle. The combination, which included only, standing and sitting postures showed significantly lower RMSE (p<0.01) and range of motion differences (p<0.01) in ankle abduction/adduction and plantar/dorsiflexion respectively, making this combination a good candidate for S2S calibration of the lower-body for non-pathological subjects.
... After 10-15 min of familiarization with OI and the lab environment, each participant collected gait data under both barefoot and OI conditions in a randomized order. Participants wore tight fitting clothing and 28 reflective markers were attached to the body based on an improved plug-in gait lower body marker set [29]. A static trial was firstly collected for 5 s when the participant stood on the plantar pressure plate to build the model. ...
... Kinematic variables included the peak and range of motion (RoM) of pelvis, hip, knee and ankle joints. The segment reference frames were defined based on the international recommendations and joint angles were defined by rotating the three joint coordinate axes [29,30]. Kinetic variables included the peak plantar pressure and vertical ground reaction force (GRF). ...
Article
Background Leg length discrepancy (LLD) is commonly associated with compensatory gait strategies leading to musculoskeletal disorders of the lower extremity and lumbar spine. Orthotic insole (OI) is considered as a conservative treatment for patients with mild LLD, especially for children. However, the restoration of normal gait when wearing OI with foot lift are still poorly understood. Research question What are the immediate effects of OI on the gait patterns in children with mild LLD? Methods Gait data and plantar pressure data were collected for 12 children with mild anatomical LLD in barefoot and OI conditions. Paired t-test was performed to determine the changes in gait between these two conditions, and also the symmetry between limbs in the same condition for spatiotemporal, kinematic, and kinetic variables. Results Children with mild LLD showed an immediate gait improvement confirmed by increased step length and velocity, decreased peak plantar pressure in both limbs with OI. Additionally, the significant between-limb differences disappeared for peak ankle dorsiflexion, hip adduction, pelvis upward obliquity and also second peak plantar pressure with OI, which improved gait symmetry. Significance This study provides a better understanding of the immediate effect of OI with foot lift on biomechanical changes in gait, which identify that OI with foot lift could be a potential therapeutic option for children with mild structural LLD to improve gait metrics.
... Marker trajectories were tracked by a 12-camera motion capture system (Oqus7+, Qualisys, Göteborg, Sweden) at a frame rate of 100 Hz. Gait kinematics were processed using a Vicon Plug-in Gait software clone-provided as 'CGM 1.1' by the PyCGM2 open-source library-that uses a static trial for calibration 15 . ...
... The CGM is characterized by a hierarchical, anatomical, top-down approach; therefore, a displaced marker affects the kinematics of every joint located distally to the anatomical segment containing that marker and the joint most proximal to it 15 . Additionally, the slight impact that we calculated on the foot progression angle demonstrates that without the medial markers of the knee and ankle, de ning the joint centers is affected by multiple marker displacements. ...
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Clinical gait analysis supports treatment decisions for patients with motor disorders. Measurement reproducibility is affected by extrinsic errors such as marker misplacement—considered the main factor in gait analysis variability. However, how marker placement affects output kinematics is not completely understood. The present study aimed to evaluate the Conventional Gait Model’s sensitivity to marker placement. Using a dataset of kinematics for 20 children, eight lower-limb markers were virtually displaced by 10 mm in all four planes, and all the displacement combinations were recalculated. Root-mean-square deviation angles were calculated for each simulation with respect to the original kinematics. The marker movements with the greatest impact were for the femoral and tibial wands together with the lateral femoral epicondyle marker when displaced in the anterior–posterior axis. When displaced alone, the femoral wand was responsible for a deviation of 7.3° (± 1.8°) in hip rotation. Transversal plane measurements were affected most, with around 40% of simulations resulting in an effect greater than the acceptable limit of 5°. This study also provided insight into which markers need to be placed very carefully to obtain more reliable gait data.
... The clinical tests used a two-arm, 360 • -scale goniometer to assess maximal hip angles. To measure the hip kinematics using the alternative test (SWING test, see Procedure section), the trajectories of 18 reflective markers (14 mm diameter), placed on each subject's skin according to the Conventional Gait Model [19], were recorded using a 12-camera motion analysis system (Oqus7 +, Qualisys, Göteborg, Sweden) set to a sampling frequency of 100 Hz. ...
... Hip kinematics for the SWING test was calculated using Visual3D (C-Motion, Inc, Germantown, MD, USA) in accordance with the placement of markers used in the Conventional Gait Model [19]. Maximal and minimal hip angles were calculated for each swing movement and represent the SWING flexion (maximal hip flexion) and the SWING extension (maximal hip extension), respectively. ...
Article
Background Clinical assessment of sagittal plane hip mobility is usually performed using the Modified Thomas Test (for extension) and the Straight-Leg-Raise (for flexion) with a goniometer. These tests have limited reliability, however. An active swinging leg movement test (the SWING test), assessed using 3D motion analysis, could provide an alternative to these passive clinical tests. Research question Is the SWING test a more reliable alternative to evaluate hip mobility, in comparison to the clinical extension and flexion tests? Methods Ten asymptomatic adult participants were evaluated by two investigators over three sessions. Participants performed 10 maximal hip extensions and flexions, with both legs straight and no trunk movement (the SWING test). Hip kinematics was assessed using a 3D motion analysis system. Maximal and minimal hip angles were calculated for each swing and represented maximal hip flexion (SWING flexion) and extension (SWING extension), respectively. The Modified Thomas Test and Straight-Leg-Raise were repeated 3 times for each leg. On the first day, both investigators performed all the tests (SWING + Modified Thomas Test + Straight-Leg-Raise). A week later, a single investigator repeated all the tests. Inter-rater, intra-rater, within-day and between-day reliability were evaluated using intra-class correlation. Results Intra-class correlation coefficients for all the tests were superior to 0.8, except for the Modified Thomas Test’s intra-rater, between-day (intra-class correlation 0.673) and the Straight-Leg-Raise’s inter-rater, within-day (intra-class correlation 0.294). The SWING test always showed a higher intra-class correlation coefficient than the passive clinical tests. The only significant correlation found was for the Straight-Leg-Raise and SWING flexion (r = 0.48; P < 0.001). Significance The SWING test seems to be an alternative to existing passive clinical tests, offering better reliability for assessing sagittal plane hip mobility.
... 2) Inverse Kinematics and Inverse Dynamics: A 3D motion capture system (V16, Vicon, Oxford, UK) was used to record the marker trajectories, which were placed according to the CGM2.3 marker set protocol ( Fig. 1. (a)) [25]. Marker positions were captured at 100 Hz. ...
Article
Full-text available
Estimation of joint torque during movement provides important information in several settings, such as effect of athletes' training or of a medical intervention, or analysis of the remaining muscle strength in a wearer of an assistive device. The ability to estimate joint torque during daily activities using wearable sensors is increasingly relevant in such settings. In this study, lower limb joint torques during ten daily activities were predicted by long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks and transfer learning. LSTM models were trained with muscle electromyography signals and lower limb joint angles. Hip flexion/extension, hip abduction/adduction, knee flexion/extension and ankle dorsiflexion/plantarflexion torques were predicted. The LSTM models' performance in predicting torque was investigated in both intra-subject and inter-subject scenarios. Each scenario was further divided into intra-task and inter-task tests. We observed that LSTM models could predict lower limb joint torques during various activities accurately with relatively low error (root mean square error ≤ 0.14 Nm/kg, normalized root mean square error ≤8.7%) either through a uniform model or through ten separate models in intra-subject tests. Furthermore, a transfer learning technique was adopted in the inter-task and inter-subject tests to further improve the generalizability of LSTM models by pre-training a model on multiple subjects and/or tasks and transferring the learned knowledge to a target task/subject. Particularly in the inter-subject tests, we could predict joint torques accurately in several movements after training from only a few movements from new subjects.
... where L is the ligament length and L 0 is the resting length of ligament. [21]. e marker trajectories and ground reaction forces were recorded using a ten-camera motion capture system at 100 Hz (Vicon Motion Systems Ltd., Oxford, UK) and two force plates at 1000 Hz (Advanced Mechanical Technology Inc., Watertown, USA), respectively. ...
Article
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of tibial insertion site (TIS) of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in single-bundle ACL reconstruction on ligament force during gait. A musculoskeletal model with an ACL ligament was created, and gait data were collected based on the motion capture system from seven female patients with single-bundle ACL reconstruction. The TIS was simulated in OpenSim and systematically changed in 2.5 mm intervals (2.5 mm, 5.0 mm, and 7.5 mm) in the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions from the center. The changes of the ACL force overtime and peak force were compared using the Pearson correlation and paired t-test separately for all simulated TISs. The results indicated that anterior movement of the TIS would significantly increase the loading of reconstructed ACL and the risk of secondary injury, but the posterior TIS would keep the ACL loose during gait. The mediolateral change of the TIS also affected the ligament force during gait, which increased in the medial direction and decreased in lateral direction, but the magnitude of the change is relatively small compared with those measured in the anteroposterior direction. Therefore, during preoperative surgery planning, defining the outline of the ACL attachment site during surgery can help to guide the decision for the TIS and can significantly affect the reconstructed ACL force during gait, especially if the TIS is moved in the anteroposterior direction.
... Vicon motion capture system was used to capture kinematic signals of the lower limbs at a frequency of 100 Hz. According to the pasting scheme of Plug-In Gait Lower-Limb Ai 2.3 Marker [19], 28 reflective markers were pasted on the bony landmarks of the lower limbs. 24 markers were reserved for motion capture. ...
Article
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Introduction: This study finds the lower limbs' reactive strength index and biomechanical parameters on variable heights. Objective: This research aims to reveal the effects of drop height on lower limbs' reactive strength index and biomechanical parameters. Methods: Two AMTI force platforms and Vicon motion capture system were used to collect kinematic and dynamic signals of the lower limbs. Results: The drop height had significant effects on peak vertical ground reaction force and peak vertical ground reaction force in the extension phase, lower limbs' support moment, eccentric power of the hip joint, eccentric power of the knee joint, eccentric power of the ankle joint, and concentric power of the hip joint. The drop height had no significant effects on the reactive strength index. Reactive strength index (RSI) had no significant correlations with the personal best of high jumpers. The optimal loading height for the maximum reactive strength index was 0.45 m. Conclusion: The optimal loading height for the reactive strength index can be used for explosive power training and lower extremity injury prevention.
Thesis
La scoliose idiopathique est la déformation du rachis la plus fréquente. Bien que le diagnostic soit clinique, le suivi et les prises de décisions thérapeutiques (traitement orthopédique et/ou chirurgical), reposent sur des critères d’évaluation radiographiques structurels. La littérature a montré qu’il existait dans la scoliose idiopathique des modifications de l’orientation de la tête, du tronc et du bassin dans les 3 plans de l’espace, associés à des troubles du contrôle postural, compromettant ainsi la stabilité en statique. Il existe également une modification de la position du centre de masse lié à la déformation, pouvant donc affecter la stabilité dynamique au cours de la marche. La problématique de ce travail était de caractériser les compensations posturales et fonctionnelles par approches biomécaniques des scolioses idiopathiques de l’adolescent (SIA), en vue d’améliorer la prise en charge clinique et plus particulièrement les stratégies chirurgicales.Dans notre 1ère étude, une modification significative de l’équilibre de la marche, mesuré par la marge de stabilité dynamique, était mise en évidence dans les déformations rachidiennes. Dans notre 2ème étude, appliquée uniquement à la SIA sévère avec indication de chirurgie, aucune modification de leur équilibre dynamique n’a été mise en évidence, témoin du caractère performant de la marche de ces patients. Dans la 3ème étude, l’approche analytique en baropodométrie dynamique et statique a mis en évidence des stratégies d’équilibrations spatiales, croisées et bilatérales, dans le but de symétriser les paramètres fonctionnels de la marche. Ces stratégies étaient liées à la localisation de la déformation et aux déséquilibres structuraux dans le plan frontal. Les déformations dans le plan sagittal avaient surtout un impact dans la modulation de l’amorti et de la propulsion au cours de la marche avec une influence particulière de la position du bassin.
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The conventional gait model (CGM) is a widely used biomechanical model which has been validated over many years. The CGM relies on retro-reflective markers placed along anatomical landmarks, a static calibration pose, and subject measurements as inputs for joint angle calculations. While past literature has shown the possible errors caused by improper marker placement, studies on the effects of inaccurate subject measurements are lacking. Moreover, as many laboratories rely on the commercial version of the CGM, released as the Plug-in Gait (Vicon Motion Systems Ltd, Oxford, UK), integrating improvements into the CGM code is not easily accomplished. This paper introduces a Python implementation for the CGM, referred to as pyCGM, which is an open-source, easily modifiable, cross platform, and high performance computational implementation. The aims of pyCGM are to (1) reproduce joint kinematic outputs from the Vicon CGM and (2) be implemented in a parallel approach to allow integration on a high performance computer. The aims of this paper are to (1) demonstrate that pyCGM can systematically and efficiently examine the effect of subject measurements on joint angles and (2) be updated to include new calculation methods suggested in the literature. The results show that the calculated joint angles from pyCGM agree with Vicon CGM outputs, with a maximum lower body joint angle difference of less than 10⁻⁵ degrees. Through the hierarchical system, the ankle joint is the most vulnerable to subject measurement error. Leg length has the greatest effect on all joints as a percentage of measurement error. When compared to the errors previously found through inter-laboratory measurements, the impact of subject measurements is minimal, and researchers should rather focus on marker placement. Finally, we showed that code modifications can be performed to include improved hip, knee, and ankle joint centre estimations suggested in the existing literature. The pyCGM code is provided in open source format and available at https://github.com/cadop/pyCGM.
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Pedobarography and the centre of pressure (COP) progression is useful to understand foot function. Pedobarography is often unavailable in gait laboratories or completed asynchronously to kinematic and kinetic data collection. This paper presents a model that allows calculation of COP progression synchronously using force plate data. The model is an adjunct to Plug-In-Gait and was applied to 49 typically developing children to create reference COP data. COP progressions were noted to spend 8% of stance behind the ankle joint centre, traverse lateral of the longitudinal axis of the foot through the midfoot for 76% of stance and finishing past the second metatarsal head on the medial side for 16% of stance. It is hoped the model will bridge the information gap for gait laboratories lacking pedobarography during foot assessments and will open up the possibility of retrospective research into COP progression based indices on kinematic data.
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It is common for biomechanics data sets to contain numerous dependent variables recorded over time, for many subjects, groups, and/or conditions. These data often require standard sorting, processing, and analysis operations to be performed in order to answer research questions. Visualization of these data is also crucial. This manuscript presents biomechZoo, an open-source toolbox that provides tools and graph- ical user interfaces to help users achieve these goals. The aims of this manuscript are to (1) introduce the main features of the toolbox, including a virtual three-dimensional environment to animate motion data (Director), a data plotting suite (Ensembler), and functions for the computation of three-dimensional lower-limb joint angles, moments, and power and (2) compare these computations to those of an exist- ing validated system. To these ends, the steps required to process and analyze a sample data set via the toolbox are outlined. The data set comprises three-dimensional marker, ground reaction force (GRF), joint kinematic, and joint kinetic data of subjects performing straight walking and 90° turning manoeuvres. Joint kinematics and kinetics processed within the toolbox were found to be similar to outputs from a commercial system. The biomechZoo toolbox represents the work of several years and multiple contrib- utors to provide a flexible platform to examine time-series data sets typical in the movement sciences. The toolbox has previously been used to process and analyse walking, running, and ice hockey data sets, and can integrate existing routines, such as the KineMat toolbox, for additional analyses. The toolbox can help researchers and clinicians new to programming or biomechanics to process and analyze their data through a customizable workflow, while advanced users are encouraged to contribute additional func- tionality to the project. Students may benefit from using biomechZoo as a learning and research tool. It is hoped that the toolbox can play a role in advancing research in the movement sciences. The biomech- Zoo m-files, sample data, and help repositories are available online (http://www.biomechzoo.com) under the Apache 2.0 License. The toolbox is supported for Matlab (r2014b or newer, The Mathworks Inc., Nat- ick, USA) for Windows (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, USA) and Mac OS (Apple Inc., Cupertino, USA).
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In the literature, conventional 3D inverse dynamic models are limited in three aspects related to inverse dynamic notation, body segment parameters and kinematic formalism. First, conventional notation yields separate computations of the forces and moments with successive coordinate system transformations. Secondly, the way conventional body segment parameters are defined is based on the assumption that the inertia tensor is principal and the centre of mass is located between the proximal and distal ends. Thirdly, the conventional kinematic formalism uses Euler or Cardanic angles that are sequence-dependent and suffer from singularities. In order to overcome these limitations, this paper presents a new generic method for inverse dynamics. This generic method is based on wrench notation for inverse dynamics, a general definition of body segment parameters and quaternion algebra for the kinematic formalism.
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The most common definition of pelvic angles in conventional gait analysis uses the sequence tilt, obliquity, rotation. This is used in most commercially available gait analysis software. This definition of angles, however, is not in agreement with the conventional clinical understanding of the terms when both tilt and rotation are large. This paper shows that by using the sequence rotation, obliquity, tilt it is possible to make a mathematically rigorous definition of pelvic angles which it is consistent with that conventional clinical usage. A model of the pelvis in which the hips are maintained level is developed. It is shown that as tilt and rotation are varied, in a clinically relevant range, that obliquity measured using the conventional sequence can be as much as 10 degrees. By definition it is 0 degrees for the new sequence. A case study shows that measures of obliquity correlate better with the relative height of the hips using the new sequence than the conventional one. It is proposed that use of the new sequence would lead to data which is easier to interpret clinically.