Search Results (650)

WiFi sensing has gained widespread attention as a promising technology, owing to its non-intrusiveness, strong privacy-preserving characteristics, and cost-effective deployment, enabling diverse application scenarios. In addition, the stable spatial characteristics and symmetry-related patterns exhibited by human body postures in WiFi signal propagation provide new possibilities for robust person identification. In traditional WiFi-based person identification technologies, although gait recognition has achieved certain success, it is complex to operate and limited in application scenarios, increasing the constraints on recognition. This issue becomes more pronounced in large-scale user scenarios, where the system performance tends to degrade and exhibit instability. To overcome these challenges, we introduce a new person identification system called WiPID. The WiFi signals extracted from the static postures of users are treated as a “biometric fingerprint” for identity verification. An end-to-end deep learning framework is utilized by WiPID to process WiFi signals, and a convolutional autoencoder is adopted to preprocess the signals directly, effectively reducing redundant information and greatly simplifying the WiFi data processing. Furthermore, the integration of a multi-scale feature extraction module improves the system’s ability to capture discriminative features. The proposed system not only reduces operational complexity but also extends its applicability to a wider range of scenarios, thereby enhancing recognition performance. In an experiment involving 50 volunteers, WiPID achieved an average recognition accuracy of up to 98%, demonstrating the method’s suitability for large-scale person identification scenarios. In addition, a real-time identification experiment has been conducted on PCs and commercial WiFi devices. Experiments have proven that WiPID can achieve real-time person identification on Internet of Things devices, further validating its feasibility and stability in practical applications. Full article

Background/Objectives: Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) and the video head impulse test (vHIT) enable receptor-specific assessment of otolithic organs and semicircular canals. Their increasing use has revealed selective or apparently isolated vestibular abnormalities, although the clinical significance of these findings remains uncertain. This mini-review examines selective otolithic and semicircular canal dysfunction, with emphasis on diagnostic interpretation, methodological limitations, and future research needs. Methods: A structured narrative review of PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus was conducted, focusing on studies reporting isolated, selective, or disproportionate vestibular abnormalities assessed by VEMPs and/or vHIT. Relevant original studies, case series, case reports, reviews, and diagnostic or consensus papers were considered. Results: Selective otolithic dysfunction may involve the utricle, saccule, or both and is often associated with imbalance, tilting, swaying, spatial disorientation, nausea, or postural instability. Selective semicircular canal dysfunction may involve one or more canals and may present with vertigo, dizziness, nystagmus, or gait instability. Similar VEMP and vHIT patterns occur across vestibular neuritis, Ménière’s disease, vestibular migraine, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, bilateral vestibulopathy, superior semicircular canal dehiscence, vestibular schwannoma, central vestibular disorders, systemic diseases, and idiopathic presentations. Conclusions: Selective vestibular abnormalities should be interpreted as context-dependent laboratory findings rather than discrete disease entities. Their value depends on reproducibility, anatomical plausibility, clinical concordance, complementary testing, and longitudinal follow-up. Full article

Background: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) alters postural control and movement coordination. This study investigated the dynamic biomechanical effects of Schroth therapy on AIS kinematics. Methods: Twelve young individuals with AIS completed a standardized Schroth therapy program, while twelve healthy participants served as controls. Three-dimensional gait kinematics were recorded using the Xsens MVN Awinda during walking at a self-selected speed. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted for the analysis of trunk, pelvic, and lower-extremity kinematics. Results: Changes were observed primarily in proximal kinematic parameters. Pelvic obliquity and thorax–head flexion/extension demonstrated the largest differences (p = 0.004 and p = 0.002, respectively; Cohen’s d = 0.82–0.95). Moderate changes were detected in pelvis–thorax axial rotation and shoulder abduction/adduction patterns. Lower-extremity changes were limited and parameter-specific, with moderate changes observed in selected hip and knee rotational parameters, while other variables showed minimal or no change. Post-intervention comparisons with healthy controls showed that several upper-body kinematic patterns showed patterns that were more alike to those observed in the control group, although direct equivalence cannot be assumed. Conclusions: The findings suggest that Schroth therapy may be associated with changes in trunk and pelvic kinematics during gait in individuals with AIS. Full article

Background: Children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) exhibit gait abnormalities, postural instability, and compensatory movement strategies due to joint pain, inflammation, and reduced neuromuscular control. These alterations negatively affect functional mobility and movement efficiency. Although gait retraining is commonly recommended in rehabilitation, objective evidence on its short-term biomechanical effects remains limited. This study aimed to evaluate the immediate impact of a single-session standardized movement training intervention on gait biomechanics in children with JIA. Methods: Seventeen children with JIA underwent pre–post gait assessments using the Xsens MVN Awinda wearable motion capture system. The intervention focused on step symmetry, stride length, heel–toe progression, and upright trunk posture, delivered by an experienced physiotherapist following a standardized protocol. Scalar kinematic outcomes were analyzed using paired statistical tests, and time-normalized kinematic waveforms were compared with healthy reference data from 25 age-matched participants derived from the COMPWALK-ACL dataset. Results: Significant improvements were observed in multiple gait parameters following the intervention. Trunk lateral lean decreased significantly (p = 0.0002; d = −1.35), indicating enhanced postural stability. Significant changes were also found in ankle dorsiflexion–plantarflexion (p = 0.0081; d = 0.83) and knee flexion–extension (p = 0.0252; d = 0.68). Waveform analyses showed increased similarity to healthy patterns, particularly in trunk and knee kinematics. Spatiotemporal parameters reflected a slower, more controlled gait pattern, with increased stride time and stance duration. Conclusions: A single session of standardized movement training can produce immediate improvements in gait biomechanics in children with JIA, especially in trunk control and lower-limb kinematics. Wearable motion analysis provides a sensitive tool for detecting these short-term adaptations and supports the inclusion of structured movement training in pediatric JIA rehabilitation. Full article

Background: Pectus excavatum (PE) is the most common anterior chest wall deformity in children and adolescents. It may lead to postural adaptations of the trunk and spine and can influence the distribution of the center of gravity. Methods: A total of 35 patients with PE, with a Haller index < 3.25, aged 5–17 years, followed a structured exercise program including postural correction exercises, thoracic mobility exercises, breathing retraining, and trunk extensor strengthening for three months after proper instruction by a specialist. Patients were assessed before and after the intervention. Postural alignment was evaluated laterally (right and left) using the GaitON Posture Analysis System, and static balance was assessed using the PoDATA 2.0 stabilometric platform (Chinesport, Italy), which analyzes plantar pressure distribution and center of pressure (COP) displacement during orthostatic stance. Statistical analysis was performed using paired t-tests and Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: Stabilometric analysis demonstrated a reduction in COP trajectory length, confidence ellipse area, and maximum velocity, indicating improved postural control and reduced sway. Postural analysis revealed statistically significant improvements in head and shoulder girdle alignment. Correlations suggest a potential relationship between segmental alignment and stabilometric parameters and a possible reduction in thoracic hyperkyphosis associated with PE. Conclusions: Postural and stabilometric assessment in PE highlights changes in the analyzed parameters and suggest that a structured exercise program may be associated with improvements in biomechanical function and neuromuscular control. These methods can be integrated into conservative management and therapeutic strategies. Full article

Background/Objectives: Sciatica secondary to lumbar disc herniation is a common cause of chronic radicular pain and functional disability. Since the sciatic nerve is involved in the motor and sensory innervation of the foot, it is important to evaluate the potential distal biomechanical alterations it produces. Evidence regarding the effect of radicular pain on kinetic parameters remains limited and heterogeneous. The aim of this study was to describe gait characteristics in people with chronic unilateral radicular pain due to non-traumatic lumbar or lumbosacral disc herniation and to compare kinetic differences between the affected and unaffected limbs. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical observational study was conducted in 41 patients who met the inclusion criteria. Dynamic baropodometric assessment was performed using the Footscan^® system. The analysis focused on kinetic parameters, including surface area, pressure, and maximum force, as well as spatiotemporal variables comprising stance time, step time, step length, and plantar push-off mechanics. Demographic data, Foot Posture Index (FPI) scores, and muscle strength were also recorded. Results: According to patient reports, the left foot was the most severely affected. Significant differences in muscle strength were found between the affected and unaffected limbs. However, no significant differences were observed in any of the kinetic or spatiotemporal parameters evaluated. Conclusions: Patients with unilateral sciatica due to lumbar disc herniation showed reduced muscle strength in the affected limb with no significant differences in kinetic or spatiotemporal gait parameters, suggesting compensatory mechanisms. Full article

Background and Objectives: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder in which gait and balance disturbances substantially increase the risk of falls and loss of independence. Pharmacological treatment alleviates several motor symptoms but has limited effects on postural instability. Backward walking (BW), a demanding locomotor task, has recently been investigated as both an assessment tool and a rehabilitation strategy in PD. The purpose of this focused systematic review is to analyse the benefits and limitations of retro walking in relation to the gait parameters and balance control of PD patients. Materials and Methods: A structured literature search (2015–2025) was conducted across multiple databases in accordance with PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) guidelines. Eligibility criteria, screening procedures, and qualitative synthesis methods were predefined. Nine studies (including two randomized controlled trials) met the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality was assessed using PEDro and ROBINS-I tools, and the certainty of evidence was evaluated using GRADE. Results: The research results indicate within-group improvements in balance and gait parameters following BW training. Some of the included studies also suggest that BW may be a sensitive marker of balance deficits and fall risk. However, the evidence is limited by small sample sizes, heterogeneity of interventions, and a predominance of non-randomized designs. Conclusions: Current evidence regarding BW in PD remains preliminary. While BW may be considered as a supplementary component of rehabilitation, its specific efficacy cannot be clearly distinguished from general exercise effects. Further high-quality randomized controlled trials with standardized protocols and long-term follow-up are required. Full article

Gait impairment is a common motor manifestation of Parkinson’s disease (PD), which is also frequently accompanied by other motor abnormalities such as bradykinesia, rigidity, postural instability, and movement asymmetry. These motor impairments are closely associated with reduced mobility and increased fall risk. Although wearable plantar insole sensing provides a promising basis for objective gait assessment, existing studies have mainly focused on conventional time- or frequency-domain descriptors, whereas the nonlinear complexity of gait, laterality-related imbalance, and deviation from normal gait patterns remain insufficiently characterized in an integrated manner. To address this gap, this paper proposes FID-Gait, which is a three-domain fusion framework for PD identification using instrumented insole data. The framework combines automated gait-cycle segmentation with multidomain feature modeling, including a fractal domain for nonlinear gait complexity, a plantar-loading–phase imbalance (PLPI) domain for loading asymmetry and temporal disturbance, and a covariance-adjusted deviation (CAD) domain for measuring deviation from normal gait patterns. Experiments on the PhysioNet Gait in Parkinson’s Disease dataset showed that FID-Gait achieved strong discriminative performance under multiple evaluation protocols. At the gait-cycle level, the selected MLP classifier achieved an accuracy of 99.11% and an F1-score of 99.47%. At the subject level, the selected AdaBoost classifier achieved the highest accuracy of 90.22% and the best F1-score reached 93.02%. Five-fold cross-validation further supported the robustness of the proposed representation, and leave-one-subject-out evaluation provided preliminary evidence of subject-independent generalization. Overall, FID-Gait provides an effective and interpretable framework for PD gait characterization and identification in offline experimental settings. Full article

(1) Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by gait and postural impairments. Recently, physical activity has emerged as a key strategy in PD management. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative technology-assisted rehabilitation program in improving gait and reducing fall risk in older adults with PD. (2) Methods: Fifty-eight patients were randomly assigned to three groups: conventional rehabilitation (CG), or conventional therapy combined with technology-assisted rehabilitation using Tymo (TG) or Walker View (WG). The intervention consisted of 10 sessions over 5 weeks. Assessments were conducted at baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1), and at 6-month follow-up (FW). Outcomes included gait and balance performance, fear of falling, quality of life, activities of daily living, and physical function. (3) Results: The CG showed no significant improvements, with a decline in Barthel Index from T1 to FW. The WG demonstrated significant improvement in POMA Gait scores, while the TG improved both POMA Total and Balance scores at T1. Post-treatment, TG and WG outperformed CG in POMA outcomes; however, these differences were lost at follow-up. (4) Conclusions: Technology-assisted rehabilitation can improve gait and balance in older adults with PD, although sustained or repeated interventions may be necessary to maintain long-term benefits. Full article

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of NP associated with LDD on balance, gait and foot pressure distribution. Methods: This prospective controlled study was conducted on 42 individuals aged between 40-70 years. There were 3 groups in the study: individuals diagnosed with NP associated with LDD (n=14), individuals with LDD without NP(n=14), and the control group (n=14). The Force Plate system and Core Balance System measured static and dynamic postural balance and stability limits. Gait and dynamic plantar pressure distribution analyses were performed with a computerized gait evaluation system. Results: The Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Signs and Symptoms (LANSS), VAS during gait, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)scores were higher in LDD with NP group than in LDD without NP group (p<0. 05). It was found that LDD with NP group had backward dynamic balance control (p<0. 05). There was no significant difference in balance control, dynamic plantar pressure distribution, and spatiotemporal gait parameters between the groups (p>0. 05). Conclusion: Although participants with NP had higher levels of pain severity in gait and disability, there was no difference in postural balance, dynamic plantar pressure distribution, and spatiotemporal gait parameters compared to participants with LDD without NP and healthy individuals. All participants with LDD were unilaterally affected. Therefore, postural balance and gait tasks would be able to compensate for the unaffected limb. Full article

Background/Objectives: Emerging evidence shows that dual tasking as well as the restriction of arm movements independently lead to detrimental effects on walking performance. However, it is unclear whether the deteriorations are more pronounced when applied together and if children (i.e., due to ongoing maturation processes) perform differently compared to young adults. This study investigated the influence of different arm movement strategies on subjective and objective markers related to beam walking under single-task (ST) and dual-task (DT) conditions in children and young adults. Methods: Twenty-six children (age: 11.3 ± 0.6 years) and 30 young adults (age: 23.2 ± 2.8 years) walked three meters on a balance beam with free and restricted (i.e., arms crossed over the chest) arm movements in a random order while concurrently performing a cognitive task (i.e., serial subtractions) or not. Walking outcomes (i.e., gait speed, cadence) were measured and used as objective markers. Self-reported task-related perceptions (i.e., balance confidence, fear of falling, perceived instability, conscious balance processing) were assessed and used as subjective indicators. Results: Walking under DT conditions (i.e., main effects of task) detrimentally influenced subjective task-related perceptions and walking outcomes, but using free arm movements (i.e., task × arm interactions) mitigated these deteriorations. Further, children exhibited largely stable levels of conscious balance processing, whereas young adults demonstrated overall higher levels along with pronounced differences between ST and DT walking when arm movements were unrestricted (i.e., group × task × arm interaction). Conclusions: These findings indicate that free arm movements seem to constitute a simple yet effective complementary ‘upper-body strategy’ that enhances postural control during a cognitively demanding walking task. Further, age differences imply that young adults compensate demanding walking conditions (i.e., DT walking with restricted arms) by elevated conscious processing of balance (i.e., a shift from automated to more conscious attention towards postural control). Full article

Cerebellar Ataxia, Neuropathy and Bilateral Vestibular Areflexia Syndrome (CANVAS) is a progressive multisystem disorder characterized by cerebellar ataxia, sensory neuropathy and bilateral vestibular failure. Although intensive rehabilitation is commonly recommended, the actual effectiveness and the most appropriate physiotherapeutic strategy for CANVAS have not been clearly established. Background/Objectives: To evaluate the effects of an integrated rehabilitation program combining neurocognitive therapeutic exercise and focal muscle vibration (FMV) on clinical and instrumental measures of gait, balance and postural stability in a CANVAS patient. Methods: A structured protocol consisting of neurocognitive therapeutic exercise and FMV was administered. Clinical measures included the Berg Balance Scale, Tinetti, SARA and SF-36. The instrumental evaluations included stabilometry and gait analysis. Results: The intervention produced improvements in balance scores associated with a reduction in fall risk. Stabilometry revealed reduction in oscillation area. Conclusions: FMV combined with neurocognitive therapeutic exercise may promote clinical and biomechanical improvements in CANVAS. Full article

Childhood obesity is a growing global health problem with significant biomechanical and psychosocial consequences. While many studies have examined these domains separately, few integrate postural abnormalities, psychophysical functioning, and lifestyle factors within a single framework. This narrative review synthesises the literature published between 2005 and 2025 to summarise current evidence and identify research gaps. The findings indicate that overweight and obesity increase the risk of musculoskeletal deviations such as genu valgum, flat feet, and increased lumbar lordosis, as well as altered gait biomechanics and reduced motor competence. Excess body weight is also associated with lower self-esteem, negative body image, depressive symptoms, and reduced health-related quality of life in children and adolescents. These outcomes appear to be influenced by modifiable lifestyle factors, including parental health behaviours, sleep patterns, and screen time, although reported associations remain inconsistent. Notably, few studies address biomechanical, psychological, and environmental factors simultaneously, which limits the understanding of their interactions. To address this gap, a prospective observational study of 250–300 children aged 7–17 years is proposed. The study will combine objective postural assessments, validated psychometric tools, and lifestyle analyses at baseline and after a 12–14-month follow-up. This integrated approach aims to identify postural compensation patterns, psychosocial risk trajectories, and modifiable behavioural predictors associated with childhood obesity, supporting the development of early preventive and interdisciplinary interventions. Full article

Video-based action recognition for neural rehabilitation—spanning stroke recovery, Parkinsonian gait assessment, and cerebral palsy monitoring—faces critical challenges, including temporal ambiguity, non-causal motion correlations, and the absence of causally grounded dynamics modeling. While transformer-based architectures achieve strong performance, they often exploit spurious temporal and environmental cues, limiting reliability in safety-critical clinical settings. We propose NeuroPrisma, a neuro-prismatic video framework that integrates frequency-domain spectral decomposition with causal intervention under Structural Causal Models (SCMs) via the backdoor criterion. NeuroPrisma introduces (i) a Prismatic Spectral Attention (PSA) module, which applies discrete Fourier transforms to decompose temporal features into multi-scale frequency bands, disentangling slow postural dynamics from rapid corrective movements, and (ii) a Causal Intervention Layer (CIL), which performs do-calculus-based backdoor adjustment to remove confounding influences and produce causally invariant representations. PSA preconditions representations prior to intervention, improving confounder estimation and causal robustness. Extensive evaluation against seven state-of-the-art models (I3D, SlowFast, TimeSformer, ViViT, Video Swin Transformer, UniFormerV2, and VideoMAE) demonstrates that NeuroPrisma achieves 98.7% Top-1 accuracy on UCF101, 82.4% on HMDB51, 71.2% on Something-Something V2, and 91.5%/95.8% on NTU RGB+D (Cross-Subject/Cross-View), consistently outperforming prior methods. It further reduces the Causal Confusion Score (CCS) by 42.3%, indicating substantially lower reliance on spurious correlations, while maintaining real-time performance with 23.4 ms latency per 16-frame clip on an NVIDIA A100 GPU. All improvements are statistically significant (p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.72–1.24). Evaluation was conducted exclusively on benchmark datasets (UCF101, HMDB51, Something-Something V2, and NTU RGB+D) under controlled conditions, without direct clinical validation on neurological patient cohorts. Overfitting was mitigated using three random seeds (42, 123, 456), RandAugment, Mixup (α = 0.8), weight decay (0.05), and early stopping. Cross-dataset generalization from UCF101 to HMDB51 without fine-tuning achieved 76.2% Top-1 accuracy. Future work will focus on prospective clinical validation across stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and cerebral palsy populations, including correlation with standardized clinical assessment scales such as Fugl–Meyer, UPDRS, and GMFCS. These results establish NeuroPrisma as a causally grounded and computationally efficient framework for reliable, real-time movement assessment in clinical rehabilitation systems. Full article

The spine enhances the flexibility of quadrupeds during locomotion. Inspired by this biological mechanism, this study incorporates an actuated spinal joint into a quadruped robot, enabling more natural motion and posture adjustment. To improve the motion stability of spinal robots in complex environments, a deep reinforcement learning framework that integrates a central pattern generator (CPG) with the twin delayed deterministic policy gradient (TD3) algorithm is proposed to optimize the gait motion of the spinal quadruped robot. First, the structure and parameters of the quadruped robot with a spinal joint are analyzed and a CPG coupling model incorporating spinal motion parameters is designed. Subsequently, a TD3–CPG algorithm framework based on a joint incremental strategy is proposed to optimize the robot’s gait, exploring optimal control strategies for terrain adaptation through spinal motion integration. Finally, experiments are conducted on various obstacle terrains to validate the proposed algorithm. Simulation and experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm in optimizing the gait of the spinal quadruped robot, showing significant improvements in walking stability, speed, and terrain adaptability across different terrains. Full article