Irregular Metronomes as Assistive Devices to Promote Healthy Gait Patterns

TL;DR

This study investigates how regular and irregular metronomes influence gait patterns in older adults and patients, showing that statistically similar metronomes preserve healthy gait properties even under perturbation.

Contribution

The paper introduces the use of irregular metronomes with statistical properties akin to healthy gait to better promote natural walking patterns during rehabilitation.

Findings

Irregular metronomes maintain gait structure under perturbation

Isochronous metronomes disrupt natural gait variability

Statistically matched metronomes preserve healthy gait properties

Abstract

Older adults and people suffering from neurodegenerative disease often experience difficulty controlling gait during locomotion, ultimately increasing their risk of falling. To combat these effects, researchers and clinicians have used metronomes as assistive devices to improve movement timing in hopes of reducing their risk of falling. Historically, researchers in this area have relied on metronomes with isochronous interbeat intervals, which may be problematic because normal healthy gait varies considerably from one step to the next. More recently, researchers have advocated the use of irregular metronomes embedded with statistical properties found in healthy populations. In this paper, we explore the effect of both regular and irregular metronomes on many statistical properties of interstride intervals. Furthermore, we investigate how these properties react to mechanical perturbation in the form of a halted treadmill belt while walking. Our results demonstrate that metronomes that are either isochronous or random metronome break down the inherent structure of healthy gait. Metronomes with statistical properties similar to healthy gait seem to preserve those properties, despite a strong mechanical perturbation. We discuss the future development of this work in the context of networked augmented reality metronome devices.