Wearable Haptic Devices For Post- Stroke Gait Rehabilitation

Wearable technologies, in the form of small, light and inconspicuous devices, can be designed to help individuals suffering from neurological conditions carry out regular rehabilitation exercises. Current research has shown that walking to a rhythm can lead to significant improvements in various aspects of gait. Our primary aim is to provide a suitable, technology based intervention to enhance gait rehabilitation of people with chronic and degenerative neurological health conditions (such as stroke). This intervention will be in the form of small, lightweight, wireless, wearable devices the user can take out of the clinic, extending their rehabilitation to their own home setting. The devices can deliver a series of vibrations at a steady rhythm giving the patient a more stable and symmetric pace of walking. The simplest version of this approach typically comprise of a very small network of just two nodes and a central controller. The existing prototypes (called the Haptic Bracelets) capture and analyse motion data in real time to provide adaptive haptic (through vibrations) cueing. In the future and after more refinement, the system could allow a single therapist to monitor and advise groups of stroke survivors undergoing therapy sessions

Rhythmic Haptic Cueing Using Wearable Devices as Physiotherapy for Huntington Disease: Case Study

Background: Huntington disease (HD) is an inherited genetic disorder that results in the death of brain cells. HD symptoms generally start with subtle changes in mood and mental abilities; they then degenerate progressively, ensuing a general lack of coordination and an unsteady gait, ultimately resulting in death. There is currently no cure for HD. Walking cued by an external, usually auditory, rhythm has been shown to steady gait and help with movement coordination in other neurological conditions. More recently, work with other neurological conditions has demonstrated that haptic (ie, tactile) rhythmic cues, as opposed to audio cues, offer similar improvements when walking. An added benefit is that less intrusive, more private cues are delivered by a wearable device that leaves the ears free for conversation, situation awareness, and safety. This paper presents a case study where rhythmic haptic cueing (RHC) was applied to one person with HD. The case study has two elements: the gait data we collected from our wearable devices and the comments we received from a group of highly trained expert physiotherapists and specialists in HD. Objective: The objective of this case study was to investigate whether RHC can be applied to improve gait coordination and limb control in people living with HD. While not offering a cure, therapeutic outcomes may delay the onset or severity of symptoms, with the potential to improve and prolong quality of life. Methods: The approach adopted for this study includes two elements, one quantitative and one qualitative. The first is a repeated-measures design with three conditions: before haptic rhythm (ie, baseline), with haptic rhythm, and after exposure to haptic rhythm. The second element is an in-depth interview with physiotherapists observing the session. Results: In comparison to the baseline, the physiotherapists noted a number of improvements to the participant’s kinematics during her walk with the haptic cues. These improvements continued in the after-cue condition, indicating some lasting effects. The quantitative data obtained support the physiotherapists’ observations. Conclusions: The findings from this small case study, with a single participant, suggest that a haptic metronomic rhythm may have immediate, potentially therapeutic benefits for the walking kinematics of people living with HD and warrants further investigation

Wearable Technologies to Support Lower Limb Rehabilitation and Clinical Practice: user requirements, design and evaluation

The widespread adoption of wearable technologies in healthcare has the potential to bring about significant improvements. However, these technologies face design challenges when applied in real world settings and must be tailored to specific contexts of use and the needs of a diverse user base. This thesis investigates these issues in two distinct yet related areas of healthcare: neurorehabilitation and clinical movement analysis. In neurorehabilitation, the research builds on previous work that demonstrated the effectiveness of wearable rhythmic haptic metronomes in improving and measuring the gait of individuals with neurological conditions in laboratory settings. This study takes this approach into the community and care home settings, using a technology probe method to identify the real-life requirements and design considerations of potential end-users and clinicians. This process identified a range of physical, sensory, and cognitive issues that are relevant to the design of the haptic metronomes, including haptic perception ability, wearability, interaction techniques, and individual preferences for body placement. The second part of the thesis initially focused on the potential of active cueing for musculoskeletal conditions, but formative discussions with specialist physiotherapists and orthopaedic surgeons suggested that wearable clinical movement analysis would be a more suitable focus. Currently, proprietary systems for objectively assessing lower limb movements are either poorly suited or too expensive. To address this gap, non-proprietary software called MoJoXlab, paired with low-cost wearable inertial sensors was validated against high-end commercial software to perform clinical movement analysis. The results of these tests were compared across a range of activities, including walking, squatting, and jumping. MoJoXlab was further validated with a different sensor system, and limitations and nuances of supporting multiple sensor systems were identified. Overall, this thesis highlights the importance of considering the needs and preferences of diverse users and the specific conditions and contexts in which wearable technologies will be used to effectively design and implement these technologies in healthcare

Design and Development of Biofeedback Stick Technology (BfT) to Improve the Quality of Life of Walking Stick Users

Biomedical engineering has seen a rapid growth in recent times, where the aim to facilitate and equip humans with the latest technology has become widespread globally. From high-tech equipment ranging from CT scanners, MRI equipment, and laser treatments, to the design, creation, and implementation of artificial body parts, the field of biomedical engineering has significantly contributed to mankind. Biomedical engineering has facilitated many of the latest developments surrounding human mobility, with advancement in mobility aids improving human movement for people with compromised mobility either caused by an injury or health condition. A review of the literature indicated that mobility aids, especially walking sticks, and appropriate training for their use, are generally prescribed by allied health professionals (AHP) to walking stick users for rehabilitation and activities of daily living (ADL). However, feedback from AHP is limited to the clinical environment, leaving walking stick users vulnerable to falls and injuries due to incorrect usage. Hence, to mitigate the risk of falls and injuries, and to facilitate a routine appraisal of individual patient’s usage, a simple, portable, robust, and reliable tool was developed which provides the walking stick users with real-time feedback upon incorrect usage during their activities of daily living (ADL). This thesis aimed to design and develop a smart walking stick technology: Biofeedback stick technology (BfT). The design incorporates the approach of patient and public involvement (PPI) in the development of BfT to ensure that BfT was developed as per the requirements of walking stick users and AHP recommendations. The newly developed system was tested quantitatively for; validity, reliability, and reproducibility against gold standard equipment such as the 3D motion capture system, force plates, optical measurement system for orientation, weight bearing, and step count. The system was also tested qualitatively for its usability by conducting semi-informal interviews with AHPs and walking stick users. The results of these studies showed that the newly developed system has good accuracy, reported above 95% with a maximum inaccuracy of 1°. The data reported indicates good reproducibility. The angles, weight, and steps recorded by the system during experiments are within the values published in the literature. From these studies, it was concluded that, BfT has the potential to improve the lives of walking stick users and that, with few additional improvements, appropriate approval from relevant regulatory bodies, and robust clinical testing, the technology has a huge potential to carve its way to a commercial market

Proceedings of the 10th international conference on disability, virtual reality and associated technologies (ICDVRAT 2014)

The proceedings of the conferenc

Musical Haptics

Haptic Musical Instruments; Haptic Psychophysics; Interface Design and Evaluation; User Experience; Musical Performanc

Musical Haptics

Haptic Musical Instruments; Haptic Psychophysics; Interface Design and Evaluation; User Experience; Musical Performanc

Proceedings of the 7th international conference on disability, virtual reality and associated technologies, with ArtAbilitation (ICDVRAT 2008)

The proceedings of the conferenc