Instrumentation of conventional walking aids, such as walking sticks, ortho-canes, crutches, and walkers, has potential benefits for both clinicians and patients, since it would permit to improve walking capabilities of the latter. This activity aims at designing, fabricating, and testing an instrumented cane, whose versatile characteristics would allow its adoption for different applications. For example, it can be personalized to monitor the ambulation of patients affected by Parkinson’s disease. In particular, it can be used during rehabilitation sessions and as a proposal to detect the Freezing of Gait (FoG). It measures either axial forces through a strain-bridge or movements with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). Furthermore, it is equipped with a dedicated electronics for both power management from a battery and data conditioning and wireless transmission to a remote station.
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For more info, please contact Mauro Serpelloni.
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