Wearable system for the gait assessment in stroke patients

Abstract

The assessment of the motor performance is an essential component of rehabilitation of humans with a disability. The wearable system is a preferable solution compared to the laboratory-based instrumentation for the clinical use. We integrated a system which combines array electrodes over the muscles of interest connected to the 24-channel digital amplifier and the shoe insole with five robust pressure transducers and one inertial measurement unit per leg. The system sends signals wirelessly to a computer. The graphical interface is simple for usage and simple to interpret. The EMG patterns (muscle activities) and gait events are synchronized by the software. The EMG patterns are determined by cubic spline interpolation of data from 24-pads over the muscle. The gait events are estimated by fuzzy logics applied on the thresholds from signals coming from the insole. The system was tested and accepted by the therapist as a useful and easy clinical tool.