CNN-GRU-KAN: A Novel Multi-Branch Framework for Parkinson’s Disease Detection Based on Gait Classification

Parkinson’s disease (PD) diagnosis and severity assessment increasingly rely on gait analysis. To capture complex gait dynamics from limited sensor data, we propose a novel multi-branch framework integrating a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN), a bidirectional gated recurrent unit (Bi-GRU), and Kolmogorov–Arnold networks (KANs) (CNN-GRU-KAN) utilizing 18-channel vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) signals. Each module serves a distinct clinical purpose: the 1D-CNN branch with squeeze-and-excitation (SE) attention extracts localized spatial plantar pressure patterns, while the Bi-GRU branch with temporal attention captures long-range rhythm abnormalities. Crucially, the KAN serves as the classification head. By utilizing learnable B-spline functions instead of traditional fixed activations, KAN adaptively models the highly non-linear boundaries between healthy controls and varying PD severities, effectively mitigating overfitting. Under rigorous subject-independent cross-validation, our model achieves 98.43% accuracy for binary PD detection and 93.46% for five-class UPDRS severity grading. These results highlight the framework’s strong potential for low-cost, unobtrusive clinical tracking and home monitoring.