title: Assessing Walking Strategies Using Insole Pressure Sensors for Stroke Survivors.
abstract: Insole pressure sensors capture the different forces exercised over the different parts of the sole when performing tasks standing up such as walking. Using data analysis and machine learning techniques, common patterns and strategies from different users to achieve different tasks can be automatically extracted. In this paper, we present the results obtained for the automatic detection of different strategies used by stroke survivors when walking as integrated into an Information Communication Technology (ICT) enhanced Personalised Self-Management Rehabilitation System (PSMrS) for stroke rehabilitation. Fourteen stroke survivors and 10 healthy controls have participated in the experiment by walking six times a distance from chair to chair of approximately 10 m long. The Rivermead Mobility Index was used to assess the functional ability of each individual in the stroke survivor group. Several walking strategies are studied based on data gathered from insole pressure sensors and patterns found in stroke survivor patients are compared with average patterns found in healthy control users. A mechanism to automatically estimate a mobility index based on the similarity of the pressure patterns to a stereotyped stride is also used. Both data gathered from stroke survivors and healthy controls are used to evaluate the proposed mechanisms. The output of trained algorithms is applied to the PSMrS system to provide feedback on gait quality enabling stroke survivors to self-manage their rehabilitation.
authors.affiliation: Telematics Engineering Department, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; Av. Universidad, 30, 28911 Leganes, Spain. munozm@it.uc3m.es.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Munoz-Organero
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield; Regent Court, 30, S1 4DA Sheffield, UK. jack.parker@sheffield.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield; Regent Court, 30, S1 4DA Sheffield, UK. l.a.powell@sheffield.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield; Regent Court, 30, S1 4DA Sheffield, UK. s.mawson@sheffield.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mawson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020521:Stroke / Q000628:therapy; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods*; D017741:Survivors; D016138:Walking
keywords: insole pressure sensors; machine learning; rehabilitation; stroke survivals; walking strategies