Next Steps in Wearable Technology and Community Ambulation in Multiple Sclerosis

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Walking impairments are common in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), significantly impacting their quality of life.
• Current methods for quantifying walking often fail to capture gait quality or real-world community ambulation, and lack long-term data.
• Traditional assessments are limited in scope and temporal resolution, not fully reflecting the complexities of daily walking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the potential of wearable sensors for assessing community ambulation in PwMS.
• To highlight the underutilization of wearable technology for gait analysis in PwMS compared to other populations.
• To identify gaps in current research regarding free-living gait assessment in PwMS.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on wearable sensor technology for gait analysis in PwMS.
• Analysis of current studies measuring gait parameters like pace, variability, asymmetry, and complexity in PwMS.
• Focus on studies collecting free-living data versus lab-based assessments.

Main Results:

• Wearable sensors can provide objective, sensitive, and comprehensive gait measures in PwMS.
• Existing studies on PwMS using wearables primarily focus on gait pace in free-living conditions.
• Gait variability, asymmetry, and complexity in free-living conditions remain largely unexplored in PwMS.

Conclusions:

• Wearable sensors hold significant potential for detailed, objective assessment of community ambulation in PwMS.
• Further research is crucial to explore the application of wearable technology for assessing free-living gait quality, particularly asymmetry and complexity.
• Advancing the use of wearables can lead to more sensitive and ecologically valid evaluations of walking in MS.