3DGAITSIGNATURE: the 3D trajectory of the body centre of mass during locomotion as a locomotor signature.

Motion capture of subjects/patients while walking/running on a treadmill allows to obtain the 3D path of the body centre of mass, which is a closed loop summarizing the main features of the gait. Our software package processes data coming from the most diffused motion analysis devices and produce a mathematical description and a graphical visualization of the individual gait pattern, averaged from many acquired strides, which enables quantitative comparisons with other patterns. Therefore the effects of pharmacological treatment, surgery, rehabilitation on restoring normal locomotion, or even the maturation process of walking, can be numerically assessed.

Apart from indicating where and when the gait cycle shows deviations from the average normal locomotion, the equations provided by 3DGAITSIGNATURE are used to obtain a very reliable estimate of the mechanical external work, which the muscles needs to supply at each stride, and a detailed graph indicating in which phases the subjects follows, or depart from, the well known pendulum-like paradigm of walking. Such a comparison could be of value in studies about Locomotion Pathophysiology.

This software package, available for Macs and for PCs, saves results in Excel type files.

Further information can be obtained by contacting alberto.minetti@unimi.it