Gait impairment monitoring in multiple sclerosis using a wearable motion sensor

International audienceThe walking velocity is considered as the best characterized objective measure of walking disability in MS. In this work, we present a method to extract spatial or temporal parameters that characterize gait from data collected by a wearable motion sensor. We acquired data on 30 patients diagnosed with MS with different gait impairment levels ranging from none to severe deficits. We measured their hip rotation over time with a wearable motion sensor clipped on their belt while they were instructed to walk a distance of 7.60m twice. We extracted the average duration and angular velocity of the patients’ hip during the walking test from the collected rotation time series. Simple linear regression models demonstrate a good correlation between this parameter and the walking velocity. As the device is affordable and minimally invasive, it could play a key role in the early detection of walking deficits by monitoring gait in in daily life