KMDI Student Seminar: Mobile-based assessment of gait and executive function in a neurorehabilitation setting

Presenter: Jenna Blumenthal, MASc candidate, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Abstract

Walking has long been considered to be an autonomic process relying on little to no cognitive input. In healthy adults, variability of gait parameters (such as stride time) is on the order of a few percent, indicative of the fine-tuned systems that regulate locomotion. Disturbance in gait is common in older adults across the dementia spectrum, and may be a sensitive predictive marker in the early stages of mild cognitive impairment. Quantitative gait analysis has traditionally relied on complex and expensive equipment, but with rapid advancements in consumer-grade electronics and widespread adoption of personal smartphones, there is an opportunity to improve the accessibility and scalability of gait analysis in routine clinical assessment. In partnership with clinical providers at Bridgepoint Health, we have developed a smartphone application for simplified gait analysis, with the integration of a secondary task “game”, which aims to reveal deficits that may be less apparent in single-task walking. Its core functionality was developed for ECE1778 – Creative Applications for Smartphones taught by Prof. Jonathan Rose

Biography

Jenna Blumenthal is a MASc candidate in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering. She is a member of the Interactive Media Lab, which caries out innovative design informed by applied cognitive psychology and human factors engineering. Previously she worked in health systems research at Princess Margaret and St. Michael’s Hospital, and at early stage women’s health company, Eve Medical.