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A user-friendly forearm crutch has been developed for the disabled, which can monitor correct usage with the help of an inbuilt sensor.
The new crutch has been developed on a low-cost, off-the-shelf technology and has sensors similar to those used in Nintendo Wii.
Neil White, a professor at the University of Southampton said, “A growing number of people are in need of physiotherapy. But reports from physiotherapists indicate that people do not always use crutches in the correct manner. Until now, there has been no way to monitor this, even though repeated incorrect use of the crutch could make the patient's injury worse.”
The crutch has been developed by a Southampton team. Georgina Hallett, a member of the team said, “These crutches will make it much easier for patients to be taught how to use them properly, and how much weight they are allowed to put through their injured leg."
"This will help them to get out of hospital faster and also reduce their risk of further damaging an already injured leg by putting too much or too little weight through it."
A Southampton release said that he crutch is fitted with three accelerometers .They detect movement and force sensors that measure the weight being applied to a patient's leg and the position of patient’s hand on the grip.
Data is transmitted wirelessly to a remote computer and visual information is displayed on the crutch if the patient uses it incorrectly.
