Development of simple motion measurement and analysis system

Abstract

In rural areas of developing countries, ankle foot orthoses that can be manufactured at low cost are required. Also, systems that can be set up with readily available, low-cost materials which can easily measure their effectiveness are also required. In this paper, I report on, a low cost motion analysis system that can easily measure the effectiveness of orthoses was developed in China. In this system, a home digital video camera was used for video recording for analysis, aluminum foil for a foot switch, and freeware for analysis software. Gait analysis was performed on a healthy person and a hemiplegic patient using this system. Then a comparison was performed between the results of this simple system and those of a 3D motion analysis system. Knee joint angles obtained by both systems were essentialy the same. Copyright © 2006 by the Society of Physical Therapy Science.