Sains Malaysiana 48(10)(2019): 2201–2209

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2019-4810-16

Automated 6-Minute Walk Test Distance Measurement and Walk Characterisation using a Novel Infrared Sensor-Based Technique

(Ujian Ukuran Jarak Berjalan Kaki Automatik 6-Minit dan Pencirian Berjalan menggunakan Teknik Inframerah Berasaskan Sensor Baru)

ISNIZA ISMAIL¹*, LEELA T. NARAYANAN¹, RUMAISA ABU HASAN¹ & EKO SUPRIYANTO²

¹School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Science, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia

²School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, Advanced Diagnostics and Progressive Human Care Research Group, IJN-UTM Cardiovascular Engineering Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia

Received: 6 September 2018/Accepted: 15 August 2019

ABSTRACT

It is common to use motorised and non-motorised treadmills in settings with space constraints for a 6-minute walk test (6MWT). This test used manual methods which are susceptible to errors. It is believed that automated techniques could eliminate the shortcomings, but this approach was not proposed by any studies. This study presented and analysed the validity of a newly-developed automated infrared-based treadmill walking monitoring system (iTMS), which as specifically designed to measure the distance and characteristics for the walk performance of a non-motorised treadmill 6MWT (nMT6MWT). This study selected 20 subjects for: The validity testing of the iTMS walked distance at five different speeds dictated by metronome beats for 2-minute and at a self-paced speed with intermittent rests for 6-minute, and the characterisation of 6-minute walk performance for distance, speed, acceleration, walking segments, and resting events. The iTMS measured distances were consistently accurate for the varying speeds during the 2-minute walk session. For the 6-minute walk en bloc and its three segments, the difference in distance (Δd) between iTMS (diTMS) and camera recording method (dCRM) showed positive biases with small LOA95% in Bland-Altman plot. The iTMS has an accurate distance measurement with ± 0.20% error of dCRM for en bloc 6-minute walk can characterise the resting events of 0.5 s and more. The iTMS is considered a viable automated method for monitoring distance and characterising nMT6MWT. It also showed the potential in addressing technical errors which may be inherent in manual 6MWT data collection methods.

Keywords: Automated data collection; infrared-distance sensor; non-motorised treadmill; validity; 6-minute walk distance

ABSTRAK

Treadmil bermotor dan tidak bermotor lazim digunakan untuk mengendalikan ujian berjalan 6-minit (6MWT) dalam set berkekangan ruang. Ujian ini menggunakan kaedah manual yang terdedah kepada ralat. Teknik automatik mungkin dapat mengatasi kekurangan tersebut, akan tetapi, pendekatan ini belum pernah diusulkan. Kajian ini membentangkan dan mengkaji validasi sistem pemantauan berjalan atas treadmil berasaskan sensor inframerah automatik (iTMS), yang direka untuk mengukur jarak dan mencirikan prestasi berjalan atas treadmil tidak bermotor bagi 6MWT (nMT6MWT). Kajian ini telah memilih 20 subjek untuk: ujian validasi jarak berjalan iTMS pada lima kelajuan yang berbeza yang ditentukan oleh rentak metronom selama 2-minit dan pada kelajuan kendiri dan hentian berjeda untuk tempoh 6-minit, dan pencirian prestasi berjalan selama 6-minit bagi jarak, kelajuan, pecutan, segmen berjalan dan insiden berehat. Jarak yang diukur iTMS didapati tepat dan konsisten untuk kelajuan yang berbeza untuk sesi berjalan 2-minit. Bagi sesi berjalan 6-minit en bloc dan tiga segmen, perbezaan jarak (Δd) antara iTMS (diTMS) dan kaedah rakaman kamera (dCRM) menunjukkan bias positif dengan LOA95% yang kecil pada plot Bland-Altman. iTMS mempunyai kejituan pengukuran jarak dengan ralat ± 0.20% berbanding dengan dCRM bagi sesi 6-minit en bloc, dan menunjukkan keupayaan mencirikan insiden rehat bertempoh 0.5 s dan ke atas. iTMS merupakan kaedah automatik yang mampu memantau jarak dan mencirikan nMT6MWT. Ia juga menunjukkan potensi untuk menangani ralat teknikal yang mungkin wujud dalam kaedah pengumpulan data 6MWT secara manual.

Kata kunci: Jarak berjalan 6-minit; pengumpulan data automatik; sensor jarak inframerah; treadmil tanpa motor; validasi

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*Corresponding author; email: isniza@biomedical.utm.my