Biofeedback cane for stroke patient

Biofeedback cane for stroke patient The biofeedback cane system for practice walking has been developed at Mae Fah Luang University. 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 design is based on using the microcontroller. 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. We also report the preliminary study which we applied the iCane to five individuals with stroke at Yonok Tambon Health Promotion Hospital, Chiang-Sean, Thailand. The immediate effects of practicing walking with iCane are discussed.