Exploring Teslasuit's Potential in Detecting Sequential Slip-Induced Kinematic Changes among Healthy Young Adults

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 23; no. 14; p. 6258
• Main Authors: Hepp, Jacob, Shiraishi, Michael, Tran, Michelle, Henson, Emmy, Ananthanarayanan, Mira, Soangra, Rahul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 09.07.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Ankle Joint; Asymmetry; Biomechanical Phenomena; fall risk; Falls; Fitness equipment; Gait; gait kinematics; Humans; Hypotheses; Lower Extremity; Motion capture; Older people; perturbation training; Range of motion; Sensors; Statistical analysis; Teenagers; Time series; Virtual reality; Walking; wearable technologies; Young Adult; Youth; United States > US; wearable technologies; perturbation training; gait kinematics; fall risk
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s23146258

This study aimed to assess whether the Teslasuit, a wearable motion-sensing technology, could detect subtle changes in gait following slip perturbations comparable to an infrared motion capture system. A total of 12 participants wore Teslasuits equipped with inertial measurement units (IMUs) and reflective markers. The experiments were conducted using the Motek GRAIL system, which allowed for accurate timing of slip perturbations during heel strikes. The data from Teslasuit and camera systems were analyzed using statistical parameter mapping (SPM) to compare gait patterns from the two systems and before and after slip. We found significant changes in ankle angles and moments before and after slip perturbations. We also found that step width significantly increased after slip perturbations ( = 0.03) and total double support time significantly decreased after slip ( = 0.01). However, we found that initial double support time significantly increased after slip ( = 0.01). However, there were no significant differences observed between the Teslasuit and motion capture systems in terms of kinematic curves for ankle, knee, and hip movements. The Teslasuit showed promise as an alternative to camera-based motion capture systems for assessing ankle, knee, and hip kinematics during slips. However, some limitations were noted, including kinematics magnitude differences between the two systems. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of gait adaptations due to sequential slips and potential use of Teslasuit for fall prevention strategies, such as perturbation training.