Accelerometry-based gait analysis, an additional objective approach to screen subjects at risk for falling ☆

TL;DR: A practical guide for advising clinicians on how inertial sensors can help them in their clinical practice and six main areas of application are analysed: gait analysis, stabilometry, instrumented clinical tests, upper body mobility assessment, daily-life activity monitoring and tremor assessment.

TL;DR: This paper reviews research regarding accelerometer sensors used for gait analysis with particular focus on clinical applications, and provides a brief introduction to accelerometer theory followed by other popular sensing technologies.

TL;DR: Overall, a wide range of sensor technologies have the potential to provide an accurate, inexpensive, and easy-to-implement fall risk assessment, however, the variation in measured parameters, assessment tools, sensor sites, movement tasks, and modelling techniques, precludes a firm conclusion on their ability to predict future falls.

TL;DR: Exoskeletons are a new generation of assistive devices that have the potential to provide both, training capabilities and functional compensation, to enhance human mobility by compensating for losses with propulsion, weight support, and balance support.

TL;DR: This study evaluated a modified, timed version of the “Get‐Up and Go” Test (Mathias et al, 1986) in 60 patients referred to a Geriatric Day Hospital and suggested that the timed “Up & Go’ test is a reliable and valid test for quantifying functional mobility that may also be useful in following clinical change over time.

TL;DR: A practical performance-oriented assessment of mobility is described that incorporates useful features of both approaches and the recommended evaluation centers on the more effective use of readily (and frequently) obtained clinical data.

TL;DR: A review of the literature and the current state‐of‐the‐art suggests that clinicians should not feel deterred by the complex nature of falls and freezing of gait; a careful clinical approach may lead to an individually tailored treatment, which can offer at least partial relief for many affected patients.