Generation of Gait Events with a FSR Based Cane Handle.

Andrés Trujillo-León,Arturo De Guzmán-Manzano,Fernando Vidal-Verdú,Ramiro Velázquez

doi:10.3390/s21165632

Abstract

Gait analysis has many applications, and specifically can improve the control of prosthesis, exoskeletons, or Functional Electrical Stimulation systems. The use of canes is common to complement the assistance in these cases, and the synergy between upper and lower limbs can be exploited to obtain information about the gait. This is interesting especially in the case of unilateral assistance, for instance in the case of one side lower limb exoskeletons. If the cane is instrumented, it can hold sensors that otherwise should be attached to the body of the impaired user. This can ease the use of the assistive system in daily life as well as its acceptance. Moreover, Force Sensing Resistors (FSRs) are common in gait phase detection systems, and force sensors are also common in user intention detection. Therefore, a cane that incorporates FSRs on the handle can take advantage from the direct interface with the human and provide valuable information to implement real-time control. This is done in this paper, and the results confirm that many events are detected from variables derived from the readings of the FSRs that provide rich information about gait. However, a large inter-subject variability points to the need of tailored control systems.

Highlights

Human gait can provide key information about health of the subject under observation.It is related to neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and others such as osteoporosis.it can be used to prevent falls of elderly people
A cane that incorporates Force Sensing Resistors (FSRs) on the handle can take advantage from the direct interface with the human and provide valuable information to implement real-time control. This is done in this paper, and the results confirm that many events are detected from variables derived from the readings of the FSRs that provide rich information about gait
The purpose of this paper is showing the use of a tactile array or a set of FSRs attached on the handle of a cane as a means to detect gait events

Summary

Introduction

Human gait can provide key information about health of the subject under observation.It is related to neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and others such as osteoporosis.it can be used to prevent falls of elderly people. Human gait can provide key information about health of the subject under observation. It is related to neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and others such as osteoporosis. It can be used to prevent falls of elderly people. It is an interesting tool to monitor the progress of patients in rehabilitation processes, for instance those caused by a stroke, or to develop assistance for people with Parkinson, as well as for diagnosis, for instance of persons with paretic limbs. Gait analysis is exploited in the control of prosthesis and exoskeletons for lower limbs [1,2]. Many of the above mentioned applications require the use of wearable devices for the purpose of gait feature extraction.

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Conclusion