Instrumented staircase for kinetic analyses of upper-and lower-limb function during stair gait

Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing - Tập 43 - Trang 552-556 - 2005
S. Chapdelaine1, B. J. McFadyen1,2, S. Nadeau3,4, G. St-Vincent1, E. Langelier5
1Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation & Social Integration, Quebec, Canada
2Department of Rehabilitation, Laval University, Montréal, Canada
3Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation, Institut de réadaptation de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
4School of Rehabilitation, University of Montreal, Canada
5Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada

Tóm tắt

The paper describes the design, technical characteristics and first results of an adjustable staircase with commercial force plates embedded in the steps and custom force transducers as part of the handrail supports. For the railing assembly, the greatest errors (<10% of maximum signal) and cross-talk range (0.58–6.74%) were in the medial-lateral direction and were corrected using a calibration matrix. Power spectral density analyses showed free vibration frequency responses for both the railing (15Hz) and steps (38.6Hz) that were relatively distinct from lower applied forces recorded during stair ascent. The creation of standardised filtering protocols was therefore possible to provide step reaction force signals identical to the literature and examples of upper-limb reaction forces that have not been shown before. Such a staircase will allow a more complete study of full body contributions to stair walking across various subject populations.

Tài liệu tham khảo

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