Practical Use Assessment of a Prototype Load-measuring Cane

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the practical use of a prototype cane which quantitatively measures loads using a strain gauge. Subjects: Ten healthy adults were recruited. Methods: The reliability of the load-measuring cane was assessed using a universal testing machine. For the practical use assessment, cane loads during gait were measured and analyzed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: The correlation between the output voltage of the load measuring cane and the load measured by the universal testing machine was excellent (r=0.99~1.00). The hysteresis measurement error was within 2-5%. In addition, the ICC of the healthy subjects exceeded 0.8. These results indicate the load-measuring cane has excellent reliability. Conclusion: The load-measuring cane is simple and inexpensive and it may become a useful clinical assessment device.