title: A smart cane with vibrotactile biofeedback improves cane loading for people with knee osteoarthritis.
abstract: Nine million adults have symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) in the U.S. and almost half of those people have a walking aid such as a cane. Proper cane loading (e.g. 15% body weight [BW]) can reduce knee loading and may slow OA progression. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a novel smart cane with vibrotactile biofeedback that aims to facilitate increased cane loading. Ten subjects with knee OA performed a 50 m hallway walk test under four conditions: 1) naïve, 2) conventional cane with verbal instruction, 3) smart cane, and 4) conventional cane post smart cane. The cane load (% BW; mean ± 1 standard deviation) for the four conditions was 9.0 ± 1.9 (naïve), 12.7 ± 2.6 (conventional cane), 17.6 ± 2.4 (smart cane), and 15.6 ±3.1 (conventional cane post smart cane). These results indicate that the smart cane's vibrotactile biofeedback helped the users achieve the target cane loading of 15% BW or more as compared to naïve or verbal instruction alone. After using the smart cane, conventional cane loading was higher than the naïve and verbal instruction conditions demonstrating a potential smart cane training effect. Long term increased cane loading may reduce knee pain and improve joint function.
authors.forename: Rebecca L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Routson
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pumford
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Czerniecki
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Aubin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001835:Body Weight; D002183:Canes; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology; D016138:Walking; D016474:Weight-Bearing