Path Feel | Innovative Walking Aid for Sensory Deficits

Path Feel.

Innovative walking aid for sensory deficit

Benefits people with sensory deficit.

Path Feel is an insole that provides vibrational feedback to the soles of people at risk of falls. This is generally due to a loss of sensation in lower limbs, such as diabetic peripheral neuropathy or multiple sclerosis. A sensory deficit in these groups entails an inability to feel the ground properly, making it harder to keep balance and continue walking.

Improves walking ability.

Studies investigating the efficacy of vibrotactile feedback on groups with sensory motor difficulties are generally positive. The efficacy of Path Feel as a device that can improve functional walking ability and gait through the administration of haptic feedback has been studied in-house.

In that study, walking ability (experimental outcome) was evaluated by the Activity-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) questionnaire, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) test, and the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test. The results demonstrated a significant improvement for 11 out of 12 participants. As such, Path Feel yielded positive improvements in short-term use, in a general elderly group at a care home facility.