Using MATLAB to Process Large Telemetry Data Sets for Biomechanical Performance Analysis

At EquuSys, we used MATLAB® to develop an easy-to-use, noninvasive system that enables equine professionals to identify and diagnose lameness that would otherwise be undetectable, even for the well-trained eye. EquuSense technology sits at the conjunction of several different disciplines, including telemetry, biomechanics, and veterinary medicine. Despite the complex, multidisciplinary challenge, a small team of developers with little MATLAB experience was able to move rapidly from the initial idea to a production system. The EquuSense system provides real-time quantitative data on horses trotting in-hand, being ridden on the flat, or jumping. Its 18 wireless sensor nodes measure position, velocity, acceleration, orientation and rotation, relative to the horse or a global frame of reference, to an accuracy of a few millimeters or a few degrees. EquuSense software processes this telemetry data to provide objective data on equine biomechanics in the form of charts, 3-D plots, and animation.
 
By Michael Davies, EquuSys
 
This article was published in MATLAB Digest, March 2009