Longitudinal Analysis of Spatial-Temporal Gait Parameters for ALS Patients Using Remotely Collected Foot-Worn IMU Data

Open Access
- Author:
- Lukac, Meghan
- Graduate Program:
- Mechanical Engineering
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- May 13, 2022
- Committee Members:
- Daniel Connell Haworth, Program Head/Chair
Anne Elizabeth Martin, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Andrew Michael Geronimo, Committee Member
Jean-Michel Mongeau, Committee Member - Keywords:
- ALS
Gait
Longitudinal Analysis
Walking Speed
Remote Monitoring
IMU - Abstract:
- While Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a well-known and heavily researched neurodegenerative disease, the progression of gait dysfunction in ALS has not been studied nearly as much. The current model of care involves in-person clinic visits to assess symptoms and make changes to medications. Clinical trials often include gait and motor function assessments to evaluate mobility; however, frequent visits to the clinic can be physically demanding for patients. To better understand how gait is affected over time by ALS, a method of remote monitoring is needed. The objective of this thesis was to remotely track ALS patient gait over 24 weeks and analyze changes in walking speed using IMU signals. Nine ALS patients and 6 healthy controls submitted twice-weekly home walking recordings for 24 and 4 weeks, respectively. To analyze the data, a data processing method was developed and validated to fuse accelerometer and gyroscope signals, identify stationary periods, double integrate acceleration to get position, and calculate walking speed. For both ALS patients and healthy controls, at-home walking speed was less than clinic walking speed by an average of 0.19 m/s (p = 0.0003), which indicates that at-home walking speed should be analyzed. Over 24 weeks, at-home walking speed significantly decreased for 7 out of 9 ALS patients, with an average of -0.00069 m/s/day (p<<0.001), or approximately by 0.1 m/s over 3 months. However, changes in walking speed over time varied significantly between patients which suggests that ALS gait should be monitored individually. Therefore, this method of home monitoring is a feasible way to track changes in gait over time for ALS patients.