バイオフィードバック方式による歩行訓練システム

Abstract

The authors developed a biofeedback gait training system, which is composed of a measuring walkway and a training walker. The measuring walkway is composed of a wire-latticed 10m long board, an electric circuit for detecting the foot stamp positions contacting wire-cross points, and a microcomputer for data processing. The walkway can measure the all temporal and distance factors of gait. The walker, with two parallel grasping bars and a monitor-CRT, is moved automatically by the servo-motor at the prescribed gait velocity for a trainee (the velocity is changeable from 20 to 300cm/sec). In designing a gait training system, the basic concept that gait training should be carried out at a prescribed gait velocity has been regarded as important. The system provides visible feedback for distance factors and audible feedback for temporal factors. The distance factors are indicated on the CRT: first, setting the center of the supporting foot as the origin, the desired foot stamp position for the next step is displayed; then the successional actual foot stamp position is overlaid. Therefore, the trainee is informed of the difference between the desired step length or width and the actual ones at each step. The difference between the desired and actual temporal durations is indicated by a buzzer sound for the corresponding duration at the next gait cycle. Using our system, application experiments were performed on three degenerative knee joint patients. The experiments demonstrated that our system was valid and useful; biofeedback gait training for distance and temporal factors with prescribed gait velocity improved pathological gaits markedly. Future problems were revealed through the application experiment as follows. The first is pursuing the improved process of pathological gait with our system for a longer term. The second is ordering the temporal and distance factors to be improved. The third is setting the target pattern for gait in rehabilitative training.