Researchers at Grove City College are investigating how changes in gait can be quantified using acoustic recordings.
Acoustic signals are a well-known clinical diagnostic for internal medicine. The sounds of heart, lungs, and digestion provide physicians with a first-order assessment of patient health using a simple stethoscope. The sound of human footsteps can also reflect biomechanical health. For example, it is easy to hear the change in gait associated with limping from an injury. Athletic trainers often coach running athletes to “run quiet” to reduce impact loads or improve running form.
During a recent experiment, footstep sounds during walking and running were recorded using an instrumented treadmill built by GCC students and compared to high-speed video of foot strike and motion. Students are using and developing signal processing methods to compare the change in sound versus changes in gait created by holding a weight in one hand. The goal is to develop a useful measure of biomechanic health from ordinary sound recordings.