Auditory feedback control for improvement of gait in patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Objective: To study the use of auditory feedback for gait management and rehabilitation in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Methods: An auditory feedback cue, responding to the patient's own steps in closed-loop, was produced by a wearable motion sensor and delivered to the patient through ear phones. On-line (device on) and residual short-term therapeutic effects on walking speed and stride length were measured in fourteen randomly selected patients with gait disturbances predominantly due to cerebellar ataxia.

Results: Patients showed an average improvement of 12.84% on-line and 18.75% residually in walking speed. Average improvement in stride length was 8.30% on-line and 9.93% residually. The improvement results are particularly noteworthy when compared with the lack of change in healthy control subjects.

Conclusions: Patients with MS using auditory feedback cues showed improvement in walking abilities.