An Advanced Ambulatory Monitoring Device for Medical Assessment of Physical Activity

Abstract

Main objective of this study is to evaluate physical activity by means of a portable device utilizing accelerometers and a barometer. A simple and effective algorithm was proposed to classify physical activities including vertical movements such as stair climbing, and estimates its exercise intensities. The propose method performed successful classifications and feasible estimation of the energy consumption in the experimental study comparing with the measured values of the expiratory gas monitoring system. The result suggested that the correct evaluation of vertical movements made an improvement in the estimation of energy consumptions, and provides better assessment of physical activity.