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. 2023 Dec 14:10:1302136.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1302136. eCollection 2023.

Gait analysis using digital biomarkers including smart shoes in lumbar spinal canal stenosis: a scoping review

Tadatsugu Morimoto  1 , Hirohito Hirata  1 , Takaomi Kobayashi  1 , Masatsugu Tsukamoto  1 , Tomohito Yoshihara  1 , Yu Toda  1 , Masaaki Mawatari  1
Affiliations

Gait analysis using digital biomarkers including smart shoes in lumbar spinal canal stenosis: a scoping review

Tadatsugu Morimoto et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSS) is characterized by gait abnormalities, and objective quantitative gait analysis is useful for diagnosis and treatment. This review aimed to provide a review of objective quantitative gait analysis in LSS and note the current status and potential of smart shoes in diagnosing and treating LSS. The characteristics of gait deterioration in LSS include decreased gait velocity and asymmetry due to neuropathy (muscle weakness and pain) in the lower extremities. Previous laboratory objective and quantitative gait analyses mainly comprised marker-based three-dimensional motion analysis and ground reaction force. However, workforce, time, and costs pose some challenges. Recent developments in wearable sensor technology and markerless motion analysis systems have made gait analysis faster, easier, and less expensive outside the laboratory. Smart shoes can provide more accurate gait information than other wearable sensors. As only a few reports exist on gait disorders in patients with LSS, future studies should focus on the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of gait analysis using smart shoes.

Keywords: digital biomarker; gait analysis; lumbar spinal canal stenosis; smart shoes; wearable sensor.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The annual number of publications on gait monitoring with smart shoes using PubMed and Google Scholar. The search criteria included “(gait OR shoe OR walking) AND (inertial OR IMU OR sensor OR wearable).” IMU, inertial measurement unit. Adapted from reference (12) with permission from MDPI.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Vicon Motion System™, Oxford, UK. (A,B) Thirty-five infrared reflective markers are attached to the body surface. (C) Patients were asked to walk freely on an approximately 8 m walking path with a ground reaction force meter installed in the center of the path (D) and photographed by 14 infrared cameras. The infrared reflective markers were positioned using the plug-in-gait model at Saga University. The video motion and ground (foot) force reaction data were seamlessly merged to enable spatiotemporal and dynamic evaluation of gait abnormalities (E,F).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Asics’ EVORIDE ORPHE smart shoes can measure the time of each segment of the gait cycle, landing and departure angles, spatiotemporal evaluation of gait using 6-axis (3-axis acceleration, 3-axis angular velocity) motion sensors built into the plantar surface, and indicators for gait evaluation such as ankle joint angle and plantar pressure [landing impact, ground (foot) force reaction]. (A) Is adapted from https://orphe.io/presswith permission of ORPHE. (B) Linkage with 3D motion analysis was done by linking the videos captured by a single digital camera with multifaceted gait analysis using OpenPose.
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