Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul 03080, Korea.
MKS Instruments Korea, 543 Beonji, Daedeok Techno Valley, Yongsan-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34028, Korea.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 Mar 30;21(7):2379. doi: 10.3390/s21072379.
Stooped posture, which is usually aggravated during walking, is one of the typical postural deformities in patients with parkinsonism. However, the degree of stooped posture is difficult to quantitatively measure during walking. Furthermore, continuous feedback on posture is also difficult to provide. The purpose of this study is to measure the degree of stooped posture during gait and to investigate whether vibration feedback from sensor modules can improve a patient's posture. Parkinsonian patients with stooped posture were recruited for this study. Two wearable sensors with three-axis accelerometers were attached, one at the upper neck and the other just below the C7 spinous process of the patients. After being calibrated in the most upright posture, the sensors continuously recorded the sagittal angles at 20 Hz and averaged the data at every second during a 6 min walk test. In the control session, the patients walked with the sensors as usual. In the vibration session, sensory feedback was provided through vibrations from the neck sensor module when the sagittal angle exceeded a programmable threshold value. Data were collected and analyzed successfully in a total of 10 patients. The neck flexion and back flexion were slightly aggravated during gait, although the average change was <10° in most patients in both measurement sessions. Therefore, it was difficult to evaluate the effect of sensory feedback through vibration. However, some patients showed immediate response to the feedback and corrected their posture during gait. In conclusion, this preliminary study suggests that stooped posture could be quantitatively measured during gait by using wearable sensors in patients with parkinsonism. Sensory feedback through vibration from sensor modules may help in correcting posture during gait in selected patients.
弯腰姿势，通常在行走时加重，是帕金森病患者的典型姿势畸形之一。然而，在行走过程中很难定量测量弯腰姿势的程度。此外，很难提供连续的姿势反馈。本研究旨在测量行走过程中的弯腰程度，并研究传感器模块的振动反馈是否可以改善患者的姿势。本研究招募了患有弯腰姿势的帕金森病患者。在患者的上颈部和 C7 棘突下方各贴附一个带有三轴加速度计的可穿戴传感器。在最直立的姿势下进行校准后，传感器以 20 Hz 的频率连续记录矢状角度，并在 6 分钟步行测试的每秒钟平均数据。在对照阶段，患者像往常一样佩戴传感器行走。在振动阶段，当矢状角度超过可编程阈值时，通过颈部传感器模块的振动提供感觉反馈。总共成功收集和分析了 10 名患者的数据。在大多数患者中，在测量阶段，颈部弯曲和背部弯曲在行走过程中略有加重，尽管平均变化<10°。因此，很难通过振动评估感觉反馈的效果。然而，一些患者对反馈做出了即时反应，并在行走过程中纠正了姿势。总之，这项初步研究表明，在帕金森病患者中，使用可穿戴传感器可以在行走过程中定量测量弯腰姿势。传感器模块的振动感觉反馈可能有助于纠正选定患者行走中的姿势。
