att_01_Requirements_Document.pdf

Requirements Document: Automated Gait Analysis System

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires an advanced, non-invasive gait analysis system to support preclinical research involving rodent models of neurological, neuromuscular, and musculoskeletal disorders. The system must provide highly sensitive, reproducible, and quantitative assessment of locomotor function, enabling detection of subtle gait abnormalities and longitudinal changes over time.

To meet these research needs, the required system must satisfy the following technical and functional requirements:

1. Voluntary Locomotion Assessment The system must allow animals (mice and rats) to traverse the testing apparatus voluntarily, without the use of forced locomotion mechanisms such as treadmills. This is essential to ensure natural gait patterns and minimize stress-induced artifacts that can confound behavioral and neurological data.

2. Glass Walkway with Optical Footprint Detection The system must utilize a transparent glass walkway combined with internally reflected illumination to detect paw contact events. Specifically, the system must employ a technology in which light is internally reflected within the glass and scattered only upon paw contact, enabling precise visualization of footprints and paw pressure distribution.

3. High-Resolution, High-Speed Imaging The system must include a high-speed digital camera positioned beneath the walkway capable of capturing paw placement and movement at a minimum of 100 frames per second, with sufficient spatial resolution to distinguish individual paw contacts and body positioning.

4. Quantification of Comprehensive Gait Parameters The system must automatically extract and compute a comprehensive set of spatial and temporal gait parameters (minimum of 50 parameters), including but not limited to stride length, stance duration, swing duration, base of support, interlimb coordination, and paw intensity metrics.

5. Automated Footprint Classification with Manual Validation The system must include software capable of automatic classification of paw prints (e.g., left/right, fore/hind), with the ability for user verification and correction. The software must provide visual overlays and step sequence representations for validation.

6. Integrated Data Analysis and Visualization Software The system must include proprietary software designed specifically for gait analysis that supports experiment setup, automated processing, statistical analysis, and graphical visualization.

The software must allow export of data and reports in standard formats (e.g., Excel, PDF, PowerPoint).

7. Adjustable Illumination and Configurable Walkway The system must provide adjustable illumination intensity and a configurable corridor to accommodate different rodent sizes and experimental conditions, ensuring consistent detection across studies.

8. Proven Validation and Widespread Use in Peer-Reviewed Research The system must be widely validated and cited in peer-reviewed scientific literature for applications including, but not limited to, spinal cord injury, neurodegenerative disease models, pain research, and motor function assessment.

9. Integrated Hardware-Software Ecosystem The system must be delivered as a fully integrated solution, including walkway, illumination system, camera, control unit, and dedicated analysis software, with demonstrated compatibility and support from a single manufacturer.

10. Integration with Existing Analysis Pipeline

The system must integrate with our existing cloud-based automated analysis pipeline.

Requirements Document: Automated Gait Analysis System