Objectifying clinical gait assessment: using a single-point wearable sensor to quantify the spatiotemporal gait metrics of people with lumbar spinal stenosis.

BACKGROUND: Wearable accelerometer-containing devices have become a mainstay in clinical studies which attempt to classify the gait patterns in various diseases. A gait profile for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) has not been developed, and no study has validated a simple wearable system for the clinical assessment of gait in lumbar stenosis. This study identifies the changes to gait patterns that occur in LSS to create a preliminary disease-specific gait profile. In addition, this study compares a chest-based wearable sensor, the MetaMotionC© device and inertial measurement unit python script (MMC/IMUPY) system, against a reference-standard, videography, to preliminarily assess its accuracy in measuring the gait features of patients with LSS. METHODS: We conduct a cross-sectional observational study examining the walking patterns of 25 LSS patients and 33 healthy controls. To construct a preliminary disease-specific gait profile for LSS, the gait patterns of the 25 LSS patients and 25 healthy controls with similar ages were compared. To assess the accuracy of the MMC/IMUPY system in measuring the gait features of patients with LSS, its results were compared with videography for the 21 LSS and 33 healthy controls whose walking bouts exceeded 30 m. RESULTS: Patients suffering from LSS walked significantly slower, with shorter, less frequent steps and higher asymmetry compared to healthy controls. The MMC/IMUPY system had >90% agreement with videography for all spatiotemporal gait metrics that both methods could measure. CONCLUSIONS: The MMC/IMUPY system is a simple and feasible system for the construction of a preliminary disease-specific gait profile for LSS. Before clinical application in everyday living conditions is possible, further studies involving the construction of a more detailed disease-specific gait profile for LSS by disease severity, and the validation of the MMC/IMUPY system in the home environment, are required.

Wearable devices for patient monitoring in the early postoperative period: a literature review.

The early postoperative period is a crucial stage in a patient's recovery as they are susceptible to a range of complications, with detection and management the key to avoiding long term consequences. Wearable devices are an innovative way of monitoring patient's post-intervention and may translate into improved patient outcomes, and reduced strain on healthcare resources, as they may facilitate safer and earlier discharge from the hospital setting. Several recent studies have investigated the use of wearable devices in postoperative monitoring. This review outlines the current literature including the range of wearable devices used for postoperative monitoring, the variety of surgeries investigated, and the outcomes assessed. A search of five electronic databases was performed. Data on the range of wearable devices, outcomes and surgeries investigated were extracted and synoptically analysed. Twenty-four articles were retrieved. Data on several different types of surgery were available and discussed. Most studies used wrist-mounted wearable devices and accelerometers or pedometers to assess physical activity metrics, including step counts and physical activity intensity (PAI), as markers of recovery. Wearable devices can provide objective data capture in the early postoperative phase to remotely monitor patients using various metrics including temperature, cardiac monitoring and physical activity. The majority of current research is focussed on wrist-mounted accelerometers and pedometers used to assess physical activity as a marker of postoperative function. Further research is required to demonstrate improved safety and cost-effectiveness of this technology.