Grant: Collaborative Health Research Projects (NSERC partnered)

For individuals with physical disabilities, including children and youth with lower limb amputation, rehabilitation is essential to the restoration of function and promoting long-term well-being. As part of rehabilitation, biofeedback techniques have been shown to improve patient outcomes by promoting more natural walking patterns and improving mobility function; however, these techniques remain largely under-used. Combining the expertise of researchers, engineers and clinicians, our aim is to develop a wearable biofeedback system for use in clinic settings with extension into the community. We will take an integrated, user-centered approach based on advanced design techniques informed via focus groups, interviews and observation of physiotherapy sessions to define the functional requirements that pertain to clinicians and users. A prototype biofeedback system will be developed, refined and validated with clinical testing involving 30 children and youth (ages 10 to 21 years) with a lower limb amputation, their clinical physiotherapists, and prosthetists. Our integrated knowledge translation approach involves clinical deployment as well as commercialization activities. The project also offers exceptional highly qualified personnel training opportunities traversing the fields of engineering and medicine.