THE USE OF UNI-AXIAL GYROSCOPE FOR MONITORING HEEL TILTING VELOCITY DURING SIMULATED ANKLE SUPINATION SPRAIN MOTIONS

Abstract

This study investigated the feasibility of using a uni-axial gyroscope to monitor the motion of foot segment. Five male subjects performed supination spraining motion simulated by a mechanical sprain simulator. A uni-axial gyroscope was attached on the shoe surface at the heel position of the right shoe to collect the heel tilting velocity. Optical motion analysis was also used to obtain heel tilting velocity as a standard. The intra class correlation and root mean square error of tilting velocity measured by the two methods are 0.70 – 0.99 and 8.21 – 37.11 deg/s, respectively. The result shows that it is possible to use only one uni-axial gyroscope for monitoring foot segment motion. This monitoring method can be contributed to the currently developing active protection “sprain-free shoe”.