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Category

Equipment

Document Type

Paper

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the concurrent validity of a treadmill-mounted photoelectric system (Optojump) for measuring spatiotemporal parameters of runners at a range of running speeds (12-16 km/h). Ten participants ran for 20 s at each of three different speeds (12, 14 and 16 km/h) on a HP Cosmos Pulsar treadmill while spatiotemporal parameters were measured by both the Optojump and a high-speed camera (960 fps). The Optojump was placed on the sides of the treadmill as per the manufacturer protocols. Large timing errors for contact time (13.1%) and swing time (6.8%) were recorded, while excellent validity was shown for the other parameters of stride time, stride length and stride frequency (errors less than 0.6%). Increases in gait speed resulted in significantly lower error values for both contact time and swing time, but had no effect on the other variables. Early identification of initial contact and delayed identification of toe-off in the Optojump system due to placement on the slightly elevated sides of the treadmill are hypothesised to be the cause of the notable errors in contact time and swing time. However, these systematic errors do not negatively affect the other spatiotemporal parameters of stride time, stride length and stride frequency which are all still accurately measured by the Optojump in this set-up

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