Proposing the first Filipino gait database, Assoc. Prof. Angelo R. Dela Cruz, Ph.D. (Leader), Chair of the Department of Electronics Engineering, Engr. Edison A. Roxas, M.Sc., also from the ECE Department, and Prof. Consuelo G. Suarez, Ph.D. representing the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, and the UST Hospital, were commissioned for the two-year project titled “Development of Normative Filipino Gait Database for Software-based Quantitative Gait Assessment System using 3D Motion Capture and Wearable Sensors for Post-stroke Hemiplegic Gaits”, funded by the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD).
With grant amounting to about P 7.4M, the project utilizes body-mass index (BMI), gender, and age for gait parameters as reference standard for other subsequent studies involving participants with medical conditions affecting gait, such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and osteoarthritis. Data acquisition is made possible by 3D Motion Capture (MoCap) System and wearable inertial sensors which are used to record the motion of the lower extremities during walking.
According to the Department of Health (DOH), stroke is one of the leading causes of morbidity in the country since 2005; it may also lead to gait impairments inhibiting the mobility of a person, specifically, in the manner that he walks.
Not only that this project aims to aid educational institutions for better understanding of the different subjects under Physical Therapy and Sports Science, this will also help clinicians to concentrate more on the significant kinematic gait parameters for proper and objective hemiplegic gait assessment method.
