A study on quantitative evaluation method for hemiplegic gait from the viewpoint of application to medical rehabilitation

The purpose of this study is to investigate the quantitative evaluation method for the hemiplegic gait characteristics by accelerometers installed in the right and left lumbar part. As the results of experiment on human walking the author has already examined, it is known that not only the component with frequency of 2fw, 3fw, but also the component with frequency of 0.5fw, 1.5fw, 2.5fw where fw is the pace frequency is observed. A FFT analysis for both hemiplegic gait and normal walking test results is carried out paying attention to the component with frequency of 0.5fw (half component of the pace frequency). Based on these analytical results, it is revealed that the component with frequency of 0.5fw in the traveling direction is obviously prominent for the hemiplegic gait compared with measured values of normal gait. This led to the conclusion that the half component of the pace frequency is the useful evaluation index for the hemiplegic gait from the viewpoint of rehabilitation.