Telemonitoring of the step detection: Toward two investigations based on different wearable sensors?

Abstract

The number of steps per time period is an important ambu-latory measure describing an individuals’ s locomotor func-tion with implications for psychological and physical heath. The step counting is today amply used as a means especially for the prevention of the obesity, in cardiological prevention and rehabilitation and in diabetology. The accuracy of the pedometers has been tested in literature and several limits of accuracy have been found for many of the commercial devices in the case of healthy subjects, furthermore these systems can be confused in the case of subjects with pathologies affecting unbalance such as the parkinson’ s disease. A system for the monitoring the step counting should be a highly accurate and not deter the performance by changing the subjects’ motion ability. In this paper we have intro-duced two novel wearable devices for the monitoring of the step counting. The first was based on an accelerometer, the second on a Force Sensing Resistor for the monitoring of the muscular expansion during gait. Both the two systems were affixed at the calf gastrocnemius level optimal position both for the muscular expansion and as biomechanical position. Preliminary trials showed that the FSR based solution showed better performances.