Y. Ohtaki, H. Inooka, K. Sagawa, A. Suzuki, X. Zhan, M. Okutsu, and R. Nagatomi (Japan)
Ergonomics systems, Portable instruments, Quality of life, Physical activity, Energy expenditure, Human walking
Main objective of this study is to evaluate physical activ ity by means of a portable device that estimates the type of physical activity and the exercise intensity. A simple and effective algorithm was proposed to classify physical activ ities including vertical movements, such as stair climbing or use of elevator. A portable measurement device with accelerometers and a barometer was specially designed to detect the features of vertical movements. Walking speed was calculated by an equation which estimates the walk ing speed as a function of signal energy of vertical body acceleration during walking. Healthy young subjects par ticipated in our experimental study. The portable device was attached to the waist. To confirm the feasibility of the method, oxygen uptake was also measured by a portable expiratory gas analyzer. Experimental results showed that the proposed method classified all type of ambulatory de fined in the algorithm successfully. Resultant energy con sumption estimated by the proposed method was found to be similar to the measured values of the expiratory gas an alyzer. It was suggested that the consideration of vertical movements made a improvement in the estimation of en ergy consumptions, and the proposed method provides bet ter estimation of physical activity.
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