Evaluation of human gait biomechanics in real-world environments

行走是人类运动的基本特征，它使我们能够自由地探索我们的环境。尽管如此，运动本身就是一种不稳定的活动，需要平衡才能保持稳定，避免跌倒。在现实环境中，可能会遇到不规则、凹凸不平的表面，这种稳定性挑战会被放大。在这些具有挑战性的情况下研究步态对于帮助研究人员更好地理解不同的人如何控制运动至关重要。不幸的是，步态研究几乎完全是在室内进行的，在控制良好的实验室条件下，使用理想的，均匀的表面。因此，尚不清楚这些发现是否可以应用于现实世界。因此，我的NSERC研究的目的是确定人类如何在现实世界中发现的不规则表面上适应他们的步态模式。假设：(1)适应将与施加的挑战水平有关，即更具挑战性的表面会使人们更不稳定，并导致更大的运动变化以保持平衡；(2)不同年龄的人对不规则表面的反应会根据他们的平衡能力而不同。本项目将招募健康的儿童、青少年、年轻人和老年人。在第一项研究（第一年）中，将开发一个开源的可穿戴系统，用于测量现实世界中的步态（GaitLab2Go）。在研究2（2-3年）中，参与者将被要求走过一系列不规则的表面，如石头、小鹅卵石、草、沙子和木片。这项研究将使用GaitLab2Go和黄金标准的动作捕捉设备，如可以记录参与者身体上的小标记的三维运动的摄像机和记录肌肉活动的传感器。从这些数据中，我们将能够确定在不规则表面上保持稳定所必需的运动和肌肉适应。最后一项研究（3-5年）将在2天的时间内用GaitLab2Go记录参与者在日常活动中的运动模式。之后，机器学习算法将用于识别参与者如何在自己的环境和大型公共数据集中适应不同的不规则表面。这个项目的发现将有助于我们了解人类如何成功地在户外环境中移动、导航、保持平衡和避免跌倒，这是加拿大人口老龄化的一个重要问题。GaitLab2Go还可以帮助临床医生评估病人的步态。此外，由于我计划以开源（免费）格式发布GaitLab2Go，该研究计划的结果可以显著降低实验室的成本，并允许其他人审查和改进我们的工作。最后，后续研究可以通过评价行人通道和户外公共空间设计对土木工程和公众健康产生积极影响。

Walking is a fundamental feature of human movement which allows us to freely explore our environment. Nonetheless, locomotion is an inherently unstable activity in which balance is needed to remain steady and avoid falls. This stability challenge is amplified in real-world environments where irregular, bumpy surfaces may be encountered. Studying gait under these challenging situations is crucial to help researchers develop a better understanding of how different people control movement. Unfortunately, gait research is almost exclusively conducted indoors under well-controlled laboratory conditions using ideal, even surfaces. As a result, it is unclear if these findings can be applied to the real world. Therefore, the aim of my NSERC research is to determine how humans adapt their gait patterns over irregular surfaces that can be found in the real world. It is hypothesized that (1) adaptations will be related to the level of challenge imposed, i.e., a more challenging surface will destabilize people more and lead to larger movement changes to maintain balance and (2) people of different ages will react differently to irregular surfaces based on their balance ability. Healthy children, adolescents, young adults, and older adults will be recruited for this project. In a first study (year 1), an open-source wearable system to measure gait in the real-world (GaitLab2Go) will be developed. In study 2 (years 2-3), participants will be asked to walk over a series of irregular surfaces such as stones, small pebbles, grass, sand, and woodchips. The study will make use of GaitLab2Go and gold-standard motion capture equipment such as cameras that can record three-dimensional movement from small markers fixed on the participant's body and sensors that record muscle activity. From these data, we will be able to determine the movement and muscular adaptations necessary to maintain stability on the irregular surfaces. A final study (years 3-5) is planned in which the movement patterns of participants during their normal daily activities will be recorded with GaitLab2Go over a 2-day period. Afterwards, machine learning algorithms will be used to identify how participants adapt to different irregular surfaces in their own environment and in a large public dataset. Findings from this project will contribute to our understanding of how humans successfully move, navigate, maintain balance, and avoid falls in outdoor environments, an important concern given our aging Canadian population. GaitLab2Go could also help clinicians assess gait of their patients. Moreover, as I plan to release GaitLab2Go in open-source (free) format, the results of this research program can lead to significant cost reductions for laboratories and allow others to review and improve our work. Finally, follow-up studies could positively impact civil engineering and public health via evaluation of pedestrian walkways and outdoor public-space design.