New Gait Recognition Technique Used in Functional Electrical Stimulation System Control

Gait recognition is the key question of functional electrical stimulation (FES) system control for paraplegic walking. This paper proposed a new risk-tendency-graph (RTG) technique to recognize the stability information in FES-assisted walking gait. The main instrument was a specialized walker dynamometer system based on the multi-channel strain-gauge bridge network fixed on the walker frame. During walking process, this system collected the reaction forces between patient´s upper extremities and walker and converted them into some morphologic curves of dynamic gait stability in temporal and spatial domains, namely RTG. To demonstrate the potential usefulness of RTG, a preliminary clinical trial was done with one male paraplegic patient. The gait stability level of this walking case was quantified from the results of temporal and spatial RTG. And relevant unstable phases in gait cycle and dangerous inclinations of patient´s body during walking process were also brought forward clearly. In conclusion, the new RTG technique is practical for distinguishing more useful gait information for FES system control