FEEDBACK ICANE FOR STROKE PATIENT

Rehabilitation can restore function and prevent permanent deformities in patients with stroke. There is, however, only very few study on cost-effectiveness of rehabilitation. Our objective was to evaluate the low cost-utility for rehabilitation for the stroke individuals. The proposed system is called a biofeedback cane. The system consists of the gait analyzer and the iCane. The gait analyzer is designed for determining the maximum force that stroke individuals can apply on cane during walking. The iCane is an audio feedback cane which provides sound when stroke individuals lean their weight over the setting limit. The iCane is set with the weight bearing to each specific stroke individual by a physical therapist utilizing the gait analyzer to set this maximum weight bearing. In this paper, we present the designing of the iCane. The force sensitive resistor is used as the sensor for detecting the applied force on cane. The detailing of the hardware and the software are discussed.