A wearable multimode system with soft sensors for lower limb activity evaluation and rehabilitation

Abstract

A novel wearable multimode system for lower limb activity evaluation and rehabilitation comprised of a multifunctional band, plantar pressure distribution sensor and a local mobile terminal connected to a cloud platform is presented. This proposed system can acquire the necessary data for lower limb activity evaluation based on clinical practice. By using proposed system, the therapists can distribute the specific training plans based on the evaluation results through the system for the patients to rehabilitate more efficiently. Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and physiological signal front ends with carbonized foam electrode are embedded in the proposed system to obtain motion signals and electromyogram (EMG) signal. Furthermore, a novel plantar pressure distribution sensor using flexible pressure sensors, flexible conductive lines and fabric materials is proposed to get the plantar pressure distribution. The carbonized foam electrode and proposed plantar pressure distribution sensor enable a more convenient evaluation and rehabilitation process. Patients can switch between two different wearing modes with EMG signal on and off. The user interfaces of training mode and evaluation mode are also presented together with the evaluation methods based on the clinical practice. Experiments were carried out to investigate the system performance, which demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed system. The proposed system shows a potential in home-based scenarios and clinical practice.