Design and Application of Vibrotactile Feedback to Influence Gait Symmetry

Recovering gait is crucial for improving independence and quality of life after neurological injuries. While conventional gait therapies are beneficial, biofeedback is gaining interest for its potential to enhance motor learning and personalize training. It was established in previous work that visual feedback, which typically engages explicit motor learning mechanisms, was able to induce changes to stance time symmetry ratio and overall gait. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine if vibrotactile feedback, which typically engages implicit motor learning techniques, can also induce such changes. To examine this, fifteen neurologically intact participants walked on a treadmill with vibrotactile feedback being provided at the level of the left ankle, knee, and hip, aimed at inducing a 20 % gait asymmetry. Results revealed that participants could use biofeedback to adapt their gait, although several did not reach the target asymmetry. Additionally, there was an average Gait Deviation Index decrease of $\mathbf{1 2. 8}$ points, representing just over one standard deviation away from the control mean, with fair correlations observed between stance time symmetry ratio and both push-off force ($r=0.45$) and vertical ground reaction force ($\mathbf{r}=0.40$) symmetry ratios. These findings suggest that vibrotactile feedback can effectively help modify temporal gait parameters while also impacting kinematic and kinetic parameters.