Dynamic Soft Tissue Artifacts during Impulsive Loads: Measurement Errors Vary With Wearable Inertial Measurement Unit Sensor Design.

Objective: Characterize and model Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) errors due to transient dynamic soft tissue artifacts excited by impulsive loads, such as foot strikes during running and jumping.

Methods: We instrumented 10 participants (5 female, 5 male) with IMUs on the dominant leg. An ankle IMU measured reference vertical accelerations during impulsive loads and was cross-validated against vertical force measures.