Dataset Information

Gait patterns during overground and virtual omnidirectional treadmill walking.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Omnidirectional treadmills (ODTs) offer a promising solution to the virtual reality (VR) locomotion problem, which describes the mismatch between visual and somatosensory information and contributes to VR sickness. However, little is known about how walking on ODTs impacts the biomechanics of gait. This project aimed to compare overground and ODT walking and turning in healthy young adults.

Methods

Fifteen young adults completed forward walk, 180° turn, and 360° turn tasks under three conditions: (1) overground, (2) on the Infinadeck ODT in a virtual environment without a handrail, and (3) on the ODT with a handrail. Kinematic data for all walking trials were gathered using 3D optical motion capture.

Results

Overall, gait speed was slower during ODT walking than overground. When controlling for gait speed, ODT walking resulted in shorter steps and greater variability in step length. There were no significant differences in other spatiotemporal metrics between ODT and overground walking. Turning on the ODT required more steps and slower rotational speeds than overground turns. The addition of the stability handrail to the ODT resulted in decreased gait variability relative to the ODT gait without the handrail.

Conclusion

Walking on an ODT resembles natural gait patterns apart from slower gait speed and shorter step length. Slower walking and shorter step length are likely due to the novelty of physically navigating a virtual environment which may result in a more conservative approach to gait. Future work will evaluate how older adults and those with neurological disease respond to ODT walking.

SUBMITTER: Lewis MM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10885397 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Gait patterns during overground and virtual omnidirectional treadmill walking.

Lewis Morgan McGrath MM Waltz Colin C Scelina Logan L Scelina Kathryn K Owen Kelsey M KM Hastilow Karissa K Zimmerman Eric M EM Rosenfeldt Anson B AB Miller Koop Mandy M Alberts Jay L JL

Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation 20240222 1

<h4>Background</h4>Omnidirectional treadmills (ODTs) offer a promising solution to the virtual reality (VR) locomotion problem, which describes the mismatch between visual and somatosensory information and contributes to VR sickness. However, little is known about how walking on ODTs impacts the biomechanics of gait. This project aimed to compare overground and ODT walking and turning in healthy young adults.<h4>Methods</h4>Fifteen young adults completed forward walk, 180° turn, and 360° turn ta ...[more]

PMID: 38388883

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Project description:Individuals with neurological impairments often exhibit asymmetrical gait patterns. This study explored the potential of using functional electrical stimulation (FES) as a perturbation method during treadmill walking to promote gait symmetry adaptation by investigating whether the FES perturbation could induce gait adaptation concerning spatial and temporal gait symmetry in healthy subjects. In the FES perturbation, both legs received electrical pulses at the same period as the subjects' initial stride duration, and the temporal gap between the two pulses for each leg was manipulated over a 7-min period. Following this, subjects continued to walk for another 5 minutes without FES. Subjects participated in two trials: implicit and explicit. In the implicit trial, they walked comfortably during FES perturbation without consciously adjusting their gait. In the explicit trial, they voluntarily synchronized their toe-off phase to the stimulation timing. To examine the effects of the FES perturbation, we measured step length and stance time and then analyzed changes in step length and stance time symmetries alongside their subsequent aftereffects. During the explicit trial, subjects adapted their gait patterns to the electrical pulses, resulting in a directional change in stance time (temporal) symmetry, with the left stance becoming shorter than the right. The stance time asymmetry induced by FES perturbation showed a slight residual effect. In the implicit trial, the directional change trend was slightly observed but not statistically significant. No consistent trend in step length (spatial) symmetry changes was observed in either condition, indicating that subjects may adapt their spatial gait patterns independently of their temporal patterns. Our findings suggest that the applied FES perturbation strategy under explicit condition can induce adaptations in subjects' temporal gait asymmetry, particularly in stance. The implicit condition showed a similar slight trend but was not statistically significant. Further experiments would provide deeper understanding into the mechanism behind subjects' response to FES perturbations, as well as the long-term effects of these perturbations on the spatial and temporal aspects of gait symmetry.

Project description:BackgroundNo previous study has examined the age-dependent characteristics of gait in individuals between 50 and 79 years simultaneously in healthy individuals and individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) over continuous gait cycles. This study aimed to investigate age-related differences in gait characteristics on individuals age ranged 50-79 years, including individuals with PD, during a 1-minute treadmill walking session. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the differences associated with spatiotemporal gait parameters and PD compared in age-matched individuals.MethodsThis study included 26 individuals with PD and 90 participants age ranged 50-79 years. The treadmill walking test at a self-preferred speed was performed for 1 min. The embedded inertial measurement unit sensor in the left and right outsoles-based system was used to collect gait characteristics based on tri-axial acceleration and tri-axial angular velocities.ResultsParticipants aged >60 years had a decreased gait speed and shortened stride and step, which may demonstrate a distinct shift in aging (all p < 0.005). Individuals with PD showed more of a decrease in variables with a loss of consistency, including gait asymmetry (GA), phase coordination index (PCI) and coefficient of variation (CV) of all variables, than age-matched individuals (all p < 0.001). Gait speed, stride and step length, stance phase, variability, GA and PCI were the variables that highly depended on age and PD.DiscussionOlder adults could be considered those older than 60 years of age when gait alterations begin, such as a decreased gait speed as well as shortened stride and step length. On the other hand, a loss of consistency in spatiotemporal parameters and a higher GA and PCI could be used to identify individuals with PD. Thus, the CV of all spatiotemporal parameters, GA and PCI during walking could play an important role and be useful in identifying individuals with PD.ConclusionThis study provided the notable aging pattern characteristics of gait in individuals >50 years, including individuals with PD. Increasing age after 60 years is associated with deterioration in spatiotemporal parameters of gait during continuous 1-minute treadmill walking. Additionally, GA, PCI and the CV of all variables could be used to identify PD which would be placed after 70 years of age. It may be useful to determine the decline of gait performance in general and among individuals with PD.

Dataset Information

Gait patterns during overground and virtual omnidirectional treadmill walking.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Gait patterns during overground and virtual omnidirectional treadmill walking.

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