Unsupervised segmentation of heel-strike IMU data using rapid cluster estimation of wavelet features

When undertaking gait-analysis, one of the most important factors to consider is heel-strike (HS). Signals from a waist worn Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) provides sufficient accelerometric and gyroscopic information for estimating gait parameter and identifying HS events. In this paper we propose a novel adaptive, unsupervised, and parameter-free identification method for detection of HS events during gait episodes. Our proposed method allows the device to learn and adapt to the profile of the user without the need of supervision. The algorithm is completely parameter-free and requires no prior fine tuning. Autocorrelation features (ACF) of both antero-posterior acceleration (a_AP) and medio-lateral acceleration (a_ML) are used to determine cadence episodes. The Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) features of signal peaks during cadence are extracted and clustered using Swarm Rapid Centroid Estimation (Swarm RCE). Left HS (LHS), Right HS (RHS), and movement artifacts are clustered based on intra-cluster correlation. Initial pilot testing of the system on 8 subjects show promising results up to 84.3%±9.2% and 86.7%±6.9% average accuracy with 86.8%±9.2% and 88.9%±7.1% average precision for the segmentation of LHS and RHS respectively.