Accuracy and precision of a novel photogate system to measure toe clearance on stairs

Skervin, TK ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6746-7420, Thomas, NM, Schofield, AJ, Hollands, MA, Maganaris, CN, O’Brien, TD, Baltzopoulos, V and Foster, RJ, 2023. Accuracy and precision of a novel photogate system to measure toe clearance on stairs. Sensors, 23 (5): 2429.

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Abstract

Background: Toe clearance on stairs is typically measured using optoelectronic systems, though these are often constrained to the laboratory, due to their complex setups. Here we measured stair toe clearance through a novel prototype photogate setup and compared this to optoelectronic measurements.

Methods: Twelve participants (age 22 ± 3 years) completed 25 stair ascent trials, each on a seven-step staircase. Toe clearance over the fifth step edge was measured using Vicon and the photogates. Twenty-two photogates were created in rows through laser diodes and phototransistors. The height of the lowest photogate broken at step-edge crossing was used to determine photogate toe clearance. A limits of agreement analysis and Pearson’s correlation coefficient compared the accuracy, precision and relationship between systems.

Results: We found a mean difference of −1.5 mm (accuracy) between the two measurement systems, with upper and lower limits (precision) of 10.7 mm and −13.8 mm, respectively. A strong positive correlation was also found (r = 70, n = 12, p = 0.009) between the systems.

Discussion: The results suggest that photogates could be an option for measuring real-world stair toe clearances, where optoelectronic systems are not routinely used. Improvements to the design and measurement factors may help to improve the precision of the photogates.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Sensors
Creators:	Skervin, T.K., Thomas, N.M., Schofield, A.J., Hollands, M.A., Maganaris, C.N., O’Brien, T.D., Baltzopoulos, V. and Foster, R.J.
Publisher:	MDPI AG
Date:	2023
Volume:	23
Number:	5
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3390/s23052429 DOI 1820805 Other
Rights:	Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	19 Oct 2023 10:58
Last Modified:	19 Oct 2023 10:58
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/50025

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