Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare > Volume 14, Number 7 > Pp. 345-348

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RESEARCH Original articles

A novel, user-friendly step counter for home telemonitoring of physical activity

Daniele Giansanti , Giovanni Maccioni, Velio Macellari, Eugenio Mattei, Michele Triventi, Federica Censi, Giovanni Calcagnini and Pietro Bartolini

Technology and Health Department, Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy

Correspondence: Daniele Giansanti, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Dipartimento di Tecnologie e Salute, Via Regina Elena 299, Roma, Italy (Fax: +39 064 938 7079; Email: daniele.giansanti{at}iss.it)

Step counting is an important index of motion in telemonitoring. We have developed a wearable system based on a device with a force-sensing resistor. This is affixed at the calf gastrocnemius level to monitor the muscular expansion related to the gait. The gastrocnemius expansion measurement unit (GEMU) was tested on three subjects at Level 2 of the Tinetti test of unbalance, who performed five repetitions of 100 steps at two different speeds (normal and slow). The mean error was less than 0.5%. The GEMU also performed better than an accelerometer unit, which is normally considered to be the best solution for this disability. The system can be integrated into a routine home-care application based on a GSM home-care unit.

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