A Portable Gait Asymmetry Rehabilitation System for Individuals with Stroke Using a Vibrotactile Feedback

Gait asymmetry caused by hemiparesis results in reduced gait efficiency and reduced activity levels. In this paper, a portable rehabilitation device is proposed that can serve as a tool in diagnosing gait abnormalities in individuals with stroke and has the capability of providing vibration feedback...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BioMed research international 2015-01, Vol.2015 (2015), p.1-16
Main Authors: Park, Young Sook, Lee, Chang-Hee, Oh, Min-Kyun, Afzal, Muhammad Raheel, Yoon, Jungwon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Asymmetry
Biofeedback
Care and treatment
Feedback
Female
Fitness equipment
Gait
Gait - physiology
Gait disorders
Humans
Male
Methods
Middle Aged
Patients
Rehabilitation
Self-help devices for the disabled
Sensors
Stroke
Stroke - physiopathology
Stroke Rehabilitation
Symmetry
Technology application
Touch
User-Computer Interface
Vibration
Walking
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Summary:Gait asymmetry caused by hemiparesis results in reduced gait efficiency and reduced activity levels. In this paper, a portable rehabilitation device is proposed that can serve as a tool in diagnosing gait abnormalities in individuals with stroke and has the capability of providing vibration feedback to help compensate for the asymmetric gait. Force-sensitive resistor (FSR) based insoles are used to detect ground contact and estimate stance time. A controller (Arduino) provides different vibration feedback based on the gait phase measurement. It also allows wireless interaction with a personal computer (PC) workstation using the XBee transceiver module, featuring data logging capabilities for subsequent analysis. Walking trials conducted with healthy young subjects allowed us to observe that the system can influence abnormality in the gait. The results of trials showed that a vibration cue based on temporal information was more effective than intensity information. With clinical experiments conducted for individuals with stroke, significant improvement in gait symmetry was observed with minimal disturbance caused to the balance and gait speed as an effect of the biofeedback. Future studies of the long-term rehabilitation effects of the proposed system and further improvements to the system will result in an inexpensive, easy-to-use, and effective rehabilitation device.
ISSN:2314-6133
2314-6141
DOI:10.1155/2015/375638