Quantification of the development of trunk control in healthy infants using inertial measurement units.

Trunk motor control is essential for the proper functioning of the upper extremities and is an important predictor of gait capacity in children with delayed development. Early diagnosis and intervention could increase the trunk motor capabilities in later life, but current tools used to assess the level of trunk motor control are largely subjective and many lack the sensitivity to accurately monitor development and the effects of therapy. Inertial measurement units could yield an objective quantitative assessment that is inexpensive and easy-to-implement. We hypothesized that root mean square of jerk, a proxy for movement smoothness, could be used to distinguish age and thereby presumed motor development. We attached a sensor to the trunks of six young children with no known developmental deficits. Root mean square of jerk decreases with age, up to 24 months, and is correlated to a more established method, i.e., center-of-pressure velocity, as well as other standard inertial measurement unit outputs. This metric therefore shows potential as a method to differentiate trunk motor control levels.

An Extended Kalman Filter for Magnetic Field SLAM Using Gaussian Process Regression.

We present a computationally efficient algorithm for using variations in the ambient magnetic field to compensate for position drift in integrated odometry measurements (dead-reckoning estimates) through simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). When the magnetic field map is represented with a reduced-rank Gaussian process (GP) using Laplace basis functions defined in a cubical domain, analytic expressions of the gradient of the learned magnetic field become available. An existing approach for magnetic field SLAM with reduced-rank GP regression uses a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter (RBPF). For each incoming measurement, training of the magnetic field map using an RBPF has a computational complexity per time step of O(NpNm2), where Np is the number of particles, and Nm is the number of basis functions used to approximate the Gaussian process. Contrary to the existing particle filter-based approach, we propose applying an extended Kalman filter based on the gradients of our learned magnetic field map for simultaneous localization and mapping. Our proposed algorithm only requires training a single map. It, therefore, has a computational complexity at each time step of O(Nm2). We demonstrate the workings of the extended Kalman filter for magnetic field SLAM on an open-source data set from a foot-mounted sensor and magnetic field measurements collected onboard a model ship in an indoor pool. We observe that the drift compensating abilities of our algorithm are comparable to what has previously been demonstrated for magnetic field SLAM with an RBPF.

In-vitro validation of inertial-sensor-to-bone alignment.

A major shortcoming in kinematic estimation using skin-attached inertial sensors is the alignment of sensor-embedded and segment-embedded coordinate systems. Only a correct alignment results in clinically relevant kinematics. Model-based inertial-sensor-to-bone alignment methods relate inertial sensor measurements with a model of the joint. Therefore, they do not rely on properly executed calibration movements or a correct sensor placement. However, it is unknown how accurate such model-based methods align the sensor axes and the underlying segment-embedded axes, as defined by clinical definitions. Also, validation of the alignment models is challenging, since an optical motion capture ground truth can be prone to disturbances from soft tissue movement, orientation estimation and manual palpation errors. We present an anatomical tibiofemoral ground truth on an unloaded cadaveric measurement set-up that intrinsically overcomes these disturbances. Additionally, we validate existing model-based alignment strategies. Modeling the degrees of freedom leads to the identification of rotation axes. However, there is no reason why these axes would align with the segment-embedded axes. Relative inertial-sensor orientation information and rich arbitrary movements showed to aid in identifying the underlying joint axes. The first dominant sagittal rotation axis aligned sufficiently well with the underlying segment-embedded reference. The estimated axes that relate to secondary kinematics tend to deviate from the underlying segment-embedded axes as much as their expected range of motion around the axes. In order to interpret the secondary kinematics, the alignment model should more closely match the biomechanics of the joint.

Reference in-vitro dataset for inertial-sensor-to-bone alignment applied to the tibiofemoral joint.

Skin-attached inertial sensors are increasingly used for kinematic analysis. However, their ability to measure outside-lab can only be exploited after correctly aligning the sensor axes with the underlying anatomical axes. Emerging model-based inertial-sensor-to-bone alignment methods relate inertial measurements with a model of the joint to overcome calibration movements and sensor placement assumptions. It is unclear how good such alignment methods can identify the anatomical axes. Any misalignment results in kinematic cross-talk errors, which makes model validation and the interpretation of the resulting kinematics measurements challenging. This study provides an anatomically correct ground-truth reference dataset from dynamic motions on a cadaver. In contrast with existing references, this enables a true model evaluation that overcomes influences from soft-tissue artifacts, orientation and manual palpation errors. This dataset comprises extensive dynamic movements that are recorded with multimodal measurements including trajectories of optical and virtual (via computed tomography) anatomical markers, reference kinematics, inertial measurements, transformation matrices and visualization tools. The dataset can be used either as a ground-truth reference or to advance research in inertial-sensor-to-bone-alignment.

Machine Learning to Improve Orientation Estimation in Sports Situations Challenging for Inertial Sensor Use.

In sports, inertial measurement units are often used to measure the orientation of human body segments. A Madgwick (MW) filter can be used to obtain accurate inertial measurement unit (IMU) orientation estimates. This filter combines two different orientation estimates by applying a correction of the (1) gyroscope-based estimate in the direction of the (2) earth frame-based estimate. However, in sports situations that are characterized by relatively large linear accelerations and/or close magnetic sources, such as wheelchair sports, obtaining accurate IMU orientation estimates is challenging. In these situations, applying the MW filter in the regular way, i.e., with the same magnitude of correction at all time frames, may lead to estimation errors. Therefore, in this study, the MW filter was extended with machine learning to distinguish instances in which a small correction magnitude is beneficial from instances in which a large correction magnitude is beneficial, to eventually arrive at accurate body segment orientations in IMU-challenging sports situations. A machine learning algorithm was trained to make this distinction based on raw IMU data. Experiments on wheelchair sports were performed to assess the validity of the extended MW filter, and to compare the extended MW filter with the original MW filter based on comparisons with a motion capture-based reference system. Results indicate that the extended MW filter performs better than the original MW filter in assessing instantaneous trunk inclination (7.6 vs. 11.7° root-mean-squared error, RMSE), especially during the dynamic, IMU-challenging situations with moving athlete and wheelchair. Improvements of up to 45% RMSE were obtained for the extended MW filter compared with the original MW filter. To conclude, the machine learning-based extended MW filter has an acceptable accuracy and performs better than the original MW filter for the assessment of body segment orientation in IMU-challenging sports situations.

Inertial Sensors-Applications and Challenges in a Nutshell.

This editorial provides a concise introduction to the methods and applications of inertial sensors. We briefly describe the main characteristics of inertial sensors and highlight the broad range of applications as well as the methodological challenges. Finally, for the reader's guidance, we give a succinct overview of the papers included in this special issue.

Robust Plug-and-Play Joint Axis Estimation Using Inertial Sensors.

Inertial motion capture relies on accurate sensor-to-segment calibration. When two segments are connected by a hinge joint, for example in human knee or finger joints as well as in many robotic limbs, then the joint axis vector must be identified in the intrinsic sensor coordinate systems. Methods for estimating the joint axis using accelerations and angular rates of arbitrary motion have been proposed, but the user must perform sufficiently informative motion in a predefined initial time window to accomplish complete identifiability. Another drawback of state of the art methods is that the user has no way of knowing if the calibration was successful or not. To achieve plug-and-play calibration, it is therefore important that 1) sufficiently informative data can be extracted even if large portions of the data set consist of non-informative motions, and 2) the user knows when the calibration has reached a sufficient level of accuracy. In the current paper, we propose a novel method that achieves both of these goals. The method combines acceleration- and angular rate information and finds a globally optimal estimate of the joint axis. Methods for sample selection, that overcome the limitation of a dedicated initial calibration time window, are proposed. The sample selection allows estimation to be performed using only a small subset of samples from a larger data set as it deselects non-informative and redundant measurements. Finally, an uncertainty quantification method that assures validity of the estimated joint axis parameters, is proposed. Experimental validation of the method is provided using a mechanical joint performing a large range of motions. Angular errors in the order of 2 ∘ were achieved using 125-1000 selected samples. The proposed method is the first truly plug-and-play method that overcome the need for a specific calibration phase and, regardless of the user's motions, it provides an accurate estimate of the joint axis as soon as possible.

Inertial Sensor-Based Lower Limb Joint Kinematics: A Methodological Systematic Review.

The use of inertial measurement units (IMUs) has gained popularity for the estimation of lower limb kinematics. However, implementations in clinical practice are still lacking. The aim of this review is twofold-to evaluate the methodological requirements for IMU-based joint kinematic estimation to be applicable in a clinical setting, and to suggest future research directions. Studies within the PubMed, Web Of Science and EMBASE databases were screened for eligibility, based on the following inclusion criteria: (1) studies must include a methodological description of how kinematic variables were obtained for the lower limb, (2) kinematic data must have been acquired by means of IMUs, (3) studies must have validated the implemented method against a golden standard reference system. Information on study characteristics, signal processing characteristics and study results was assessed and discussed. This review shows that methods for lower limb joint kinematics are inherently application dependent. Sensor restrictions are generally compensated with biomechanically inspired assumptions and prior information. Awareness of the possible adaptations in the IMU-based kinematic estimates by incorporating such prior information and assumptions is necessary, before drawing clinical decisions. Future research should focus on alternative validation methods, subject-specific IMU-based biomechanical joint models and disturbed movement patterns in real-world settings.