EXAMINATION OF A METHOD FOR DETECTION OF WALKING HEEL STRIKE AND TOE-OFF OVER A WIDE RANGE OF SPEEDS

Abstract

This study examines a simple method to accurately detect heel strike (HS) and toe off (TO) timing over a wide range of walking speeds. HS was the moment when the heel passed a threshold in the downward direction. TO was the moment when the fifth metatarsal passed the threshold in the upward direction. The accuracies of these measurements were evaluated by comparing the moment acquired using a force platform. The root mean square (RMS) errors were 6.10 ms for HS and 15.6 ms for TO. These errors were smaller than those of previous studies. Furthermore, walking speed did not affect the detection precision in this method. Therefore, the detection method proposed in this study can detect HS and TO timing with better accuracy over a wide range of walking speed than previous methods.