Gait, Balance, and Mobility Analysis

Book excerpt: Gait, Balance, and Mobility Analysis: Theoretical, Technical, and Clinical Applications provides a comprehensive overview of gait and movement analysis techniques, from traditional motion capture to modern wearable technologies. The book contains both a technical element that focuses on biomechanics and engineering concepts for gait analysis and the application of gait analysis with clinical populations. Beginning with a comprehensive background on the underlying neural control of gait and mobility in humans and physiological control of balance, the book then covers analysis methods and techniques for laboratory, clinic or remote patient assessment. It then examines how gait, mobility and balance are impacted by musculoskeletal, neurological, and cardio-respiratory conditions. Lastly, it discusses future directions and provides recommendations for future studies. Combining the expertise of engineers and clinicians, this book takes a multidisciplinary approach to show how and why gait, balance and mobility can be used to tackle important clinical questions for various conditions. - Presents the theory, methodologies/technical aspects, and applications of gait, balance and mobility assessment for laboratory, clinical, and remote patient assessment - Assists engineers and clinicians to design and adopt real-world solutions for gait, balance, and mobility assessment, with a better understanding of the theory to drive novel and robust clinical solutions - Includes pseudocode and workflow diagrams to help convey the journey of engineering theory to real-world application