Stride Length
Distance from foot strike to subsequent strike of the same foot
ConductVision · Behavioral Analysis
Gait Analysis
AI-powered paw tracking and stride analysis for naturalistic voluntary locomotion.
RodentMotor & GaitAuto Export
ConductVision / Gait Analysis
Recording / Trial 3subject tracked
Stride Length6.2cm
Duty Factor62%
Velocity18.4cm/s
Key Parameters
Metrics automatically extracted by ConductVision.
Stance Time
Duration each limb remains in ground contact per stride cycle
Swing Time
Duration each limb is airborne between stance phases
Duty Factor
Ratio of stance time to total stride time — indicates support phase proportion
Gait Velocity
Walking speed — critical normalization factor for all gait parameters
Stride Symmetry
Left-right timing comparison across corresponding limbs
+ 12 more parameters trackedShow allHide
Step Length
Distance from one foot strike to the opposite foot's next strike
Step Width
Lateral distance between limbs perpendicular to direction of travel
Base of Support
Distance between left and right paws during simultaneous stance
Limb Phase
Coordination timing between forelimb and hindlimb on the same side
Paw Placement Variability
Consistency of paw positioning across successive strides
Stride Length Asymmetry
Left-right stride length difference — lateralized injury indicator
Temporal Symmetry
Timing differences between right and left foot strikes within a cycle
Head-Body Alignment
Angular deviation between head orientation and body axis during locomotion
Tail Coordination
Tail movement pattern relative to body center during locomotion
Stance/Swing Ratio
Relative time in stance vs. swing phases — shifts with pain or injury
Footprint Intensity
Paw pressure distribution and contact area during stance phase
Weight Distribution
Load sharing across four limbs — reveals compensatory unloading
What is Gait Analysis?
Gait analysis quantifies how rodents walk by tracking paw positions, stride timing, and body alignment during voluntary locomotion on a walkway. ConductVision employs an unsupervised Hidden Markov Model to automatically classify stance and swing states, enabling label-free identification of stride cycles without manual annotation. The system tracks nose, forepaws, hindpaws, and body center at 120 fps.
Unlike treadmill-based systems that impose a fixed speed, ConductVision captures naturalistic voluntary crossings — preserving spontaneous gait compensations that forced locomotion can mask. Standardized CSV and PDF outputs enable direct statistical comparison across cohorts and longitudinal time points.
Protocol Parameters
| Parameter | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Walkway Length (Mouse) | Traversable corridor length | 105 cm |
| Walkway Length (Rat) | Traversable corridor length | 130 cm |
| Walkway Width | Corridor width maintaining natural gait | 10 cm |
| Walkway Height | Wall height enclosing the corridor | 10 cm |
| Camera Frame Rate | High-speed capture for paw-level resolution | 120 fps |
| Camera Resolution | Calibrated video resolution | 1080p |
| Illumination | Dual green edge rails + red overhead for paw-contact visibility | Green + Red LED |
| Clean Crossings per Subject | Minimum voluntary crossings for statistical stability | 3–5 crossings |
| Pre-Habituation | Familiarization with walkway surface and lighting | Recommended |
| Surface Cleaning | Ethanol wipe between subjects to eliminate odor cues | 70% ethanol |
| Velocity Normalization | Speed-matched analysis to control velocity-dependent parameters | Required |
Interpreting Results
↓
Reduced Stride Length
Shortened strides indicate pain-related guarding, musculoskeletal injury, or neurodegenerative motor decline — must be normalized for velocity.
↑
Increased Duty Factor
Longer stance phase relative to stride time — compensatory weight-bearing seen in arthritis, neuropathic pain, and spinal cord injury.
↑
Increased Stride Asymmetry
Left-right stride length differences indicate unilateral injury — lateralized pain, stroke, or hemisection models.
↑
Increased Step Width
Wider base of support is a compensatory stability strategy — seen in cerebellar ataxia, vestibular dysfunction, and spinal cord injury.
↓
Reduced Gait Velocity
Slower voluntary walking speed — must be reported as a covariate since most gait parameters are velocity-dependent.
↑
Altered Limb Phase Coordination
Disrupted forelimb-hindlimb timing — indicates loss of interlimb coordination from spinal or supraspinal lesions.
Research Applications
Pain & Musculoskeletal
- Osteoarthritis — stride length and duty factor changes track disease progression and treatment response
- Neuropathic pain — gait compensations as objective pain indicators complementing von Frey thresholds
- Bone fracture healing — longitudinal weight-bearing recovery quantified by footprint intensity
Neurological Injury
- Spinal cord injury — stride symmetry and interlimb coordination as functional recovery endpoints
- Stroke — lateralized gait asymmetry correlating with infarct size and hemisphere
- Traumatic brain injury — comprehensive motor phenotyping across recovery timeline
Neurodegeneration & Aging
- Parkinson's disease — progressive stride shortening and velocity reduction in 6-OHDA and alpha-synuclein models
- ALS — longitudinal gait deterioration tracking motor neuron loss
- Age-related motor decline — normative gait parameter databases across the lifespan
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