An Efficient Study Comparing the Measure of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters Between Smartphone and Insole Sensors

Gait parameter evaluation is crucial while ascertaining the health status of participants and formulating therapeutic interventions. The design and application of the smartphone technique for evaluating and investigating participants’ gait parameters are presented in this paper. New methodology to investigate the spatiotemporal parameters of healthy individuals: step time, stride time, cadence and walking speed, through insole sensors and smartphones is introduced in this work. The aim of this research is firstly to examine the performance of a couple of Android smartphones (one per leg) two Android smartphone compared to an insole sensor in estimating spatiotemporal gait parameters. Secondly, the research tests the validity of a tri-axial accelerometer of a smartphone to quantify gait features. Spatiotemporal gait parameters of twenty healthy subjects (10 male, 10 female, age >18) were measured using insole sensors and smartphones. Five trials of walking were requested from each subject. The data were obtained from the insole sensors and smartphones. Six statistic measures: Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression, mean, standard deviation (SD), p-value, and Bland-Altman, were employed to compare the validity of the smartphones. The coefficient of correlation according to the developed approach was 0.79-0.92 for left and right legs, respectively. On the basis of the results obtained by the study using four parameters: step time, stride time, cadence, and walking speed, it was noted that there was consensus between smartphones and insole sensors in gait parameter measurement. In addition, these findings illustrated that the smartphone sensor is effective in measuring healthy adult participants’ spatiotemporal gait parameters. Accordingly, it is capable of generating trustworthy data without having to invest in costly equipment. Lastly, the established technique could assist an expert in objectively and effectively assessing gait.