This abstract describes synthetically the design, development and characterization of two wireless instrumented crutches for monitoring lower-limb rehabilitation activities. These sensorized crutches allow monitoring axial and shear forces and tilt angles in real time. Each crutch is composed of three strain-gauge bridges measuring axial and shear forces, a conditioning and transmission circuit, a tri-axial accelerometer and a battery power management circuit. The data are transmitted wirelessly via Bluetooth to a remote computer, no further readout unit is necessary. The instrumented crutches have been tested and characterized using an ad-hoc experimental setup and they have been used for the first tests on one subject. This paper shows, in a concise manner, the description of the system and the first experimental results on one crutch obtained in laboratory.
Sardini, E., Serpelloni, M., Lancini, M. Wireless Instrumented Crutches for Force and Movement Measurements for Gait Monitoring (2015) IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, . Article in Press. DOI: 10.1109/TIM.2015.2465751 Wireless Instrumented Crutches for Force and Movement Measurements for Gait Monitoring
Wireless Instrumented Crutches for Force and Tilt Monitoring in Lower Limb Rehabilitation
Wireless Instrumented Crutches for Force and Tilt Monitoring in Lower Limb Rehabilitation papers