We studied the use of a millimeter-wave frequency-modulated continuous wave radar for gait analysis in a real-life environment, with a focus on the measurement of the step time. A method was developed for the successful extraction of gait patterns for different test cases. The quantitative investigation carried out in a lab corridor showed the excellent reliability of the proposed method for the step time measurement, with an average accuracy of 96%. In addition, a comparison test between the millimeter-wave radar and a continuous-wave radar working at 2.45 GHz was performed, and the results suggest that the millimeter-wave radar is more capable of capturing instantaneous gait features, which enables the timely detection of small gait changes appearing at the early stage of cognitive disorders.
Keywords: CW; FMCW; fall prevention; gait analysis; illness prediction; micro-Doppler; millimeter wave; radar.