Objective evaluation of functional walking in stroke survivors

Regaining balance function is often one of the key goals of stroke rehabilitation. Improvements in balance function can be the result of restitution or compensational strategies. In previous studies, the processes of restitution and compensational strategies have been established for straight-line walking. The development of these processes, however, are still largely unknown for other gait activities such as turning and side-stepping. Here, we present a fully ambulant gait analysis system that can be used for an objective evaluation of balance during functional tasks. The results of two individuals are presented: one individual with adequate balance function and one individual with impaired balance function. The analysis showed that the individual with adequate balance function was able to walk with increased instability when compared to the individual with impaired balance function. Based on these results, we conclude that the fully ambulant system is feasible for an objective quantification of balance function.