Parkinsonian gait classification in older adults using time–frequency spectrograms and 2D convolutional neural network

Abstract

Gait disorders in adults aged 50 years and above are a common concern and are often linked to reduced mobility, a higher risk of falls, and a lower quality of life. This study presents a deep learning-based approach to detect gait disorders using vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) signals. The data were collected from older adults, including individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and healthy controls, using force-sensitive resistor sensors. The raw signals were first processed using band-pass filtering and wavelet denoising to remove noise and unwanted variations. After that, the signals were converted into time–frequency representations using the continuous wavelet transform (CWT). These representations were then used as input to a convolutional neural network (CNN) for classification. The model achieved a validation accuracy of 93.48%, with precision, recall, and F1-score all above 92% for both groups. The results show that combining CWT with CNN provides a reliable and efficient way to detect gait disorders. This approach can support clinical evaluation by offering a practical and scalable method for analyzing gait patterns in older adults.