title: An intelligent rollator for mobility impaired persons, especially stroke patients.
abstract: An intelligent rollator (IRO) was developed that aims at obstacle detection and guidance to avoid collisions and accidental falls. The IRO is a retrofit four-wheeled rollator with an embedded computer, two solenoid brakes, rotation sensors on the wheels and IR-distance sensors. The value reported by each distance sensor was compared in the computer to a nominal distance. Deviations indicated a present obstacle and caused activation of one of the brakes in order to influence the direction of motion to avoid the obstacle. The IRO was tested by seven healthy subjects with simulated restricted and blurred sight and five stroke subjects on a standardised indoor track with obstacles. All tested subjects walked faster with intelligence deactivated. Three out of five stroke patients experienced more detected obstacles with intelligence activated. This suggests enhanced safety during walking with IRO. Further studies are required to explore the full value of the IRO.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Computing Science, University Hospital of Northern Sweden and Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hellström
authors.affiliation: b Department of Radiation Sciences/Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital of Northern Sweden and Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Olof
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lindahl
authors.affiliation: b Department of Radiation Sciences/Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital of Northern Sweden and Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bäcklund
authors.affiliation: b Department of Radiation Sciences/Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital of Northern Sweden and Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.affiliation: a Department of Computing Science, University Hospital of Northern Sweden and Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hohnloser
authors.affiliation: c Department of Public Health and Clinical Sciences, University Hospital of Northern Sweden and Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bråndal
authors.affiliation: d Neurocenter, University Hospital of Northern Sweden and Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Xiaolei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: c Department of Public Health and Clinical Sciences, University Hospital of Northern Sweden and Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden ;|e Department of Clinical Sciences , Danderyd Hospital, Karolinska Institutet , Sweden.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wester
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009038:Motion; D012656:Self-Help Devices; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014853:Walkers
keywords: Assistive technology; intelligent walker; stroke