Gait Assessed With Body-Worn Sensors May Help Detect Onset of Alzheimer's Disease

A pilot study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease demonstrated that low-cost wearable sensors could offer a cost-effective way to detect early Alzheimer's symptoms and track progression of the disease, reports EurekAlert . The researchers note their findings show that these sensors can effectively assess changes in a person's gait and be employed for continuous "free-living" monitoring of gait during everyday activities. "Free-living gait analysis at home is particularly useful as it allows objective observation of an individual's day-to-day activity," says Newscastle University Professor Lynn Rochester. "It also has the benefit of providing continuous data over a prolonged time that may be more sensitive than one-off assessments." The study involved 20 volunteers with early Alzheimer's who wore a small sensor on their lower back and conducted walking tasks in a laboratory and then went home wearing the sensor for a week. "Body-worn sensors can provide an enriched picture of an individual's gait function and walking activities that could act as a complementary diagnostic tools for clinicians," Rochester notes. "Clinical use of body-worn sensors in annual health assessments could track gait changes over time and act as a red flag for cognitive impairment."