Wearable Sensor Based Stooped Posture Estimation in Simulated Parkinson’s Disease Gaits

Stooping is a posture which is described as an involuntary forward bending of the thoracolumbar spine. Conventionally, the stooped posture (SP) in Parkinson’s disease patients is measured in static or limited movement conditions using a radiological or optoelectronic system. In the dynamic condition with long movement distance, there was no effective method in preference to the empirical assessment from doctors. In this research, we proposed a practical method for estimating the SP with a high accuracy where accelerometers can be mounted on the neck or upper back as a wearable sensor. The experiments with simulated subjects showed a high correlation of 0.96 and 0.99 between the estimated SP angle and the reference angles for neck and back sensor position, respectively. The maximum absolute error (0.9 and 1.5 degrees) indicated that the system can be used, not only in clinical assessment as a measurement, but also in daily life as a corrector.