A wearable system based on Time-of-Flight technology for direct derivation of step number and step width on healthy gait

The aim of this study is to present and validate a novel custom-made wearable system (SWING) for step detection and step width estimation. SWING consists of a magneto-inertial measurement unit and up to three Infrared Time-of-Flight distance sensors. Fifteen healthy adults walked on level ground at self-selected pace for two minutes in two sessions. The SWING system showed neither missed nor extra steps and a mean absolute error in the range of 10.1-13 mm for the measurement of the step width