Wearable Sensors for Gait Monitoring and Motion Analysis
A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Wearables".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2025 | Viewed by 18
Special Issue Editor
Interests: rehabilitation robotics; human dynamics and biomedical information; wearable sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Aim:
Walking is one of the most ubiquitous forms of physical activity in daily life, and detailed evaluations of human gait serve as a direct indicator of overall health status and functional mobility. Leveraging advances in miniaturized wearable sensor hardware—such as inertial measurement units, surface EMG electrodes, and sophisticated signal-processing and machine-learning techniques—recent years have seen significant improvements in both the precision and latency of motion data acquisition. These technological breakthroughs have enabled the seamless real-time monitoring and automated analysis of gait and other movement patterns outside of laboratory settings. By integrating multi-modal sensor fusion, adaptive algorithms, and intuitive feedback systems, researchers have developed streamlined workflows for rapid, objective gait assessments applicable to fitness tracking, workplace ergonomics, fall risk screening, and clinical rehabilitation. This Special Issue aims to bring together submissions that showcase cutting-edge research and comprehensive reviews on how wearable sensor technologies—ranging from inertial measurement units (IMUs) and surface EMG to integrated sensor networks and exoskeleton interfaces—are advancing the accuracy, timeliness, and application scope of human gait and motion analysis in both daily life and clinical settings.
Scope:
This Special Issue invites contributions that explore, but which are not necessarily limited to, the following areas:
- Gait analysis based on wearable sensors;
- Motion analysis and human–machine interactions;
- Motion analysis and clinical applications;
- New wearable sensors for motion analysis;
- Wearable sensor-based exoskeleton control.
Research History:
Since the 1990s, wearable gait analysis began with standalone accelerometers and gyroscopes, demonstrating that key stride and balance metrics could be captured outside of motion-capture labs. In the 2000s, combining surface EMG with inertial sensors provided richer insights into muscle activation patterns alongside kinematics, establishing early multimodal analysis frameworks. The following decade saw dramatic sensor miniaturization and on-device fusion, leading to compact low-power units capable of real-time multi-sensor data processing for sports and rehabilitation applications. By the late 2010s, wearable-sensor-driven exoskeletons and assistive devices utilized real-time IMU and EMG fusion for adaptive gait support in clinical trials. Most recently, the 2020s have ushered in interconnected AI-enhanced sensor networks with cloud integration, enabling scalable remote monitoring, intelligent gait phenotyping, and personalized intervention strategies in both daily life and clinical settings.
Cutting-edge research topics:
data-driven gait detection; adaptive exoskeleton control; textile and skin-adherent sensors; AI-enhanced signal processing; energy-harvesting and self-powering wearables
Prof. Dr. Tao Liu
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- gait analysis
- motion analysis
- smart diagnosis
- intent recognition
- human–computer interactions
- clinical applications
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