Monitoring mobility assistive device use in post-stroke patients.

Mobility assistive devices (MAD) such as canes can improve mobility and allow independence in the performance of mobility-related tasks. The use of MAD is often prescribed for stroke survivors. Despite their acknowledged qualities, MAD in real life conditions are typically underutilized, misused and abandoned. Ecologically sound, evidence based outcome measures need to be developed so as to capture the inherent complexities behind real life use of MAD and identify markers and mitigators of a successful integration of MAD into the daily activities of stroke survivors. In this study, we used accelerometers, gyroscopes, and a load cell to identify the task a patient was performing and examine the use of the cane in the context of the task.