Measures
your walk
The way you walk can reveal a lot of useful
information about your health.
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MEASURING TOOL: The new tool is attached
to the belt of the subject being tested and registers the
movements in the small of the back.
Photo: Rune Petter Ness
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Research scientists at NTNU, the University
of Bergen and SINTEF are working on ways to detect and measure the
minute movements that result in balance and walking problems.
A systematic analysis of elderly people who
are vulnerable to falls is currently underway at a laboratory at
St. Olav’s Hospital. The analysis involves the use of an instrument
that registers movement (an accelerometer) and an electronic walkway.
The instrument is attached to the back of the subjects being tested,
and measures how the subject moves during different circumstances.
The walkway registers pressure, stride length, foot positioning
and foot strain.
These facts combine to provide information
that can describe balance problems experienced by people who have
trouble walking, such as people with impaired vision,weak musculature
or dementia. Until now, the focus has been on the diagnosis of diseases
that lead to walking difficulties, with little focus on the functional
aspects of the disease. But to design and adjust the treatment of
patients with movement problems, doctors and health care workers
need information on balance and walking functionality.
SENSOR
Terje Mugaas and Pål Liljebäck of SINTEF ICT have been working
to further develop the instrument that can detect and record movement
patterns of the subjects being tested. The new instrument is more
accurate than previous attempts to measure movements and uses wireless
technology to send the results computer in real time. SINTEF has
developed an algorithm on the computer that uses the instrument
movements to estimate velocity and position.
Cybernetic experts began work on the project
last year with the development of a user interface. A grant this
year from the Research Council of Norway enabled work to begin on
the development of a sensor. One of this instrument’s major advantages
is that it is portable and can easily be taken to the patient, as
opposed to a camera-based measuring system that is permanently set
up in a laboratory.
“By using this instrument, we are able to
measure balance,” says Mugaas. “It measures the adjustments a person
makes to maintain balance when he or she is standing still, and
when he or she is walking. An elderly person with movement difficulties
shows much greater variability than younger people in walking patterns
between each step they take”.
These measurements enable medical personnel
to detect movement problems and determine which treatment might
help.
POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS
The instrument has so far been tested on patients with walking
problems, falling problems or vision difficulties. However, the
method has also been successfully tested on measuring the balance
and walking of children suffering from dyslexia.
Dyslexic children have greater difficulty
than healthy children in maintaining their balance with their eyes
open. A study is currently in progress to examine people with cataracts
both before and after their operation to see how sight influences
their walking.
The idea to use an accelerometer to measure
patients’ balance originates from physiotherapist and Professor
Rolf Moe-Nilssen of the University of Bergen. Jorunn Helbostad,
a researcher and physiotherapist at St. Olav’s Hospital, has contributed
to further development of the method and has used it in her Ph.
D work. A prototype of the new product was completed in early June
and will now be used in further studies.
By Åse Dragland
Contact: Terje Mugaas, SINTEF ICT
Tel: +47 73 59 71 31, email: terje.mugaas@sintef.no
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