Biomechanical biofeedback targeting the high-level rehabilitation of mobility in youth with lower limb amputations

对于身体残疾的个人，包括截肢的儿童和青年，康复对于恢复功能和促进长期福祉至关重要。作为康复的一部分，生物反馈技术已被证明通过促进更自然的行走模式和改善活动功能来改善患者的预后；然而，这些技术在很大程度上仍未得到充分利用。结合研究人员、工程师和临床医生的专业知识，我们的目标是开发一种可穿戴的生物反馈系统，用于临床环境，并扩展到社区。我们将采取综合的、以用户为中心的方法，以先进的设计技术为基础，通过焦点小组、访谈和对理疗课程的观察来确定与临床医生和用户有关的功能要求。一个原型生物反馈系统将被开发、改进和临床测试验证，涉及30名下肢截肢的儿童和青年(10至21岁)、他们的临床物理治疗师和假肢医生。我们的集成知识翻译方法涉及临床部署和商业化活动。该项目还提供了横跨工程和医学领域的特殊的高素质人才培训机会。

For individuals with physical disabilities, including children and youth with lower limb amputation, rehabilitation is essential to the restoration of function and promoting long-term well-being. As part of rehabilitation, biofeedback techniques have been shown to improve patient outcomes by promoting more natural walking patterns and improving mobility function; however, these techniques remain largely under-used. Combining the expertise of researchers, engineers and clinicians, our aim is to develop a wearable biofeedback system for use in clinic settings with extension into the community. We will take an integrated, usercentered approach based on advanced design techniques informed via focus groups, interviews and observation of physiotherapy sessions to define the functional requirements that pertain to clinicians and users. A prototype biofeedback system will be developed, refined and validated with clinical testing involving 30 children and youth (ages 10 to 21 years) with a lower limb amputation, their clinical physiotherapists, and prosthetists. Our integrated knowledge translation approach involves clinical deployment as well as commercialization activities. The project also offers exceptional highly qualified personnel training opportunities traversing the fields of engineering and medicine.