Development of a posture sensor and sensory biofeedback system for use in gait training of the locomotion disabled

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For lower-limb amputees or those who have insufficient muscular activity or uncontrollable contractions during functional movements during walking, powered prosthesis or orthosis is a promising device. Even in that case, it is important to inform them of the displacement of the center of gravity so that they may realize a stable walking. If the disabled person has balance deficits, the information of trunk inclination is one of the most useful one from the point of view of rehabilitation. In the present study, the information which have been obtained by the devices situated outside of the subject is now got by sensors put on the subject. It is thus very convenient as there is practically no restriction in its use, and the data can be obtained on-line and in real time. Three kinds of sensors have been developed: posture sensor to measure the inclination in sagittal and frontal planes, potentiometer to measure the relative joint angle, and foot switch sensor to detect the plantar contact … More . In the first year, a preliminary study on the posture sensor was carried out and characteristics were specified for this use. With the three above sensors, it was shown that the displacement may be calculated in real time on a microcomputer. LED display panel was also designed and made to present the information to the subject, where all the calculation is made by hardware circuits. In the second year, as it was clarified that the information on the pelvic inclination is the most important one, a system was designed to measure it, in which the potentiometer is no more used to simplify the system. Foot switch sensor was improved so as to be more reliable, with the use of a cord-type of pressure-sensitive rubber. Data acquisition and analysis are done on 8-bit and 16-bit microcomputers: cadence, inclination in sagittal and frontal planes are displayed with a cursor on CRT and, any of these data can be evaluated interactively. A sensory biofeedback system was fabricated which transform the inclination data into audible tone: the more inclined the pelvis is, the higher tone is generated. The usefulness of the system was verified on normal subjects, and its clinical application is under evaluation. Less