Development of novel assistive device with external cues for patients with stroke
| Autor: | Chien-Hsi Chen, 陳建熹 |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2012 |
| Druh dokumentu: | 學位論文 ; thesis |
| Popis: | 100 Stroke is one of the most common diseases among older population. It is estimated that over 500 thousands of stroke survivors per year need long-term clinical rehabilitation in Taiwan. During the rehabilitation process, it is important for stroke survivors to retrieve independent mobility, because proper gait training is essential for a better recovery of activities of daily living (ADL). Gait training in clinical practice largely relied on therapists' clinical experiences for evaluation of patient’s walking capacity. Proper cues are frequently offered to stroke patients to facilitate better gait patterns. However, in the absence of therapists, stroke patients may develop abnormal walking patterns due to lack of cues, which would adversely affect their future rehabilitation. The purpose of the study was to develop a novel assistive device which would be able to provide external cues, mimicking what the therapists would do during gait training in stroke patients. We hope the device could help therapists to enhance gait training efficiency, and, at the same time, could objectively monitor patients' recovery. In addition, when therapists are not available, stroke patients could use this device to perform self-training accurately and efficiently. In this study, a novel assisted device with external cues using sensors and embedded system was established. Four stroke patients were recruited and their gait performances were analyzed by Vicon MX motion system (Vicon, UK) to determine the intervention effects of this new assistive device. The results showed that when use the assistive device, subjects’ stride length of affected side increased from 40.21±2.58 cm to 46.91±5.4 cm, stride length of sound side increased from 40.77±2.62 cm to 48.09±7 cm, step length of affected increased from 36.69±19.66cm to 47.32±22.27cm, single foot swing time of affected increased from 1.09±0.17 seconds to 1.41±0.51 seconds, and single foot swing time of sound side increased from 0.77±0.26 seconds to 1.05±0.46 seconds. All of the above-mentioned parameters achieved approximately 15% improvement, which revealed clinical importance and no statistical significance due to small sample size. The peak step height of affected side increased from 10.89±1.71cm to 11.08±2.33cm and peak step height of sound side increased from 9.34±0.5cm to 9.61±0.76cm, and both only gain 2% to 6% improvement without clinical importance or statistical significance. For patients with stroke, a larger stride length may indicate a more efficient ambulation, and a longer foot swing time may enhance weight-bearing ability of the contralateral lower limb. Moreover, the improvements of the peak step heights in both legs may reduce the degree of foot drop, which in turn, may reduce fall risk and enhance locomotion safety. In conclusion, the device we developed has been proved to be helpful in stroke gait performance. The results were comparable to those received conventional gait training. This newly developed device may be potentially useful in general clinical settings for normalizing walking patterns and performances in stroke patients. |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
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