Multidimensional Mobility Metric Using Wearables: Conceptualization and Validation in Laboratory and Maritime Settings

摘要

Mobility, as a part of human movement, is of significant importance in research and practice. Mobility analysis in controlled settings reveals information on functional impairment and the underlying causes of such impairment. Mobility analysis in real-life scenarios, however, remains a conceptual and methodological challenge. Although wearable sensors are suitable alternatives to assess mobility in unsupervised settings, there is a lack of conceptual frameworks for wearable sensor-based mobility analysis.;This study aims at addressing these limitations by conceptualizing a theoretical mobility metric and validating the mobility metric from laboratory and maritime settings. The theoretical metric consists of multidimensional perspectives on mobility to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how the complex structure of mobility works by reducing redundancy and assisting with interpretation of results. This dissertation comprises two experimental sections:;Conceptualization of the multidimensional mobility metric. A multidimensional mobility metric including intensity, symmetry, and variability was theoretically conceptualized. Two preliminary studies were conducted in healthy individuals and a patient group to evaluate redundancy of the three dimensions. The finding suggests that each dimension of the mobility metric represents unique artifacts of mobility characteristics.;Validation of the multidimensional mobility metric. Two experimental studies were conducted to assess the efficacy of the mobility metric in different environments and with different types of mobility. The first experiment assessed biomechanical and clinical interpretations of the mobility metric in the laboratory setting. In the second experiment, unstable mobility was assessed to quantify mobility characteristic in an unstable platform. The findings demonstrate the efficacy of the multidimensional mobility metric by providing a clinical interpretation of mobility.;This dissertation systematically establishes the multidimensional mobility metric in the use of wearable sensors by providing biomechanical and clinical indicators for human mobility assessment.