Development of a Wearable Motion Analysis System for Evaluation and Rehabilitation of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)

Mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) stem from a number of causes such as illnesses, strokes, accidents or battlefield traumas. These injuries can cause issues with everyday tasks, such as gait, and are linked with vestibular dysfunction [1]. Current technology that measures gait parameters often requires time consuming set up and post processing and is limited to the laboratory setting. The purpose of this study was to develop a wearable motion analysis system (WMAS) using five commercially available inertial measurement units (IMU) working in unison to record and output four gait parameters in a clinically relevant way. The WMAS has the potential to be used to 1) help diagnose mTBI or other neurocognitive disorders; 2) provide feedback to a clinician during a training session; 3) collect gait parameter data outside of the laboratory setting to determine rehabilitation progress; 4) provide quantitative outcome measures for rehabilitation efficacy.