Wearable sensors, cerebral palsy and gait assessment in everyday environments: is it a reality? A systematic review

This systematic review aimed to investigate emerging methods used to quantify gait parameters in children with cerebral palsy (CP) in everyday environments. The StArt computational tool automatically screened the following databases: ACM, Engineering Village, IEEE, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science from inception to June 2018. Studies reporting the use of wearable sensors to assess gait in daily settings in children with CP were included. Data regarding 1563 studies were extracted, but only three studies could be included on the basis of the inclusion/exclusion criteria. These studies proposed wearable technologies based on the use of signals provided by triaxial accelerometers and force resistive pressure sensors. These are able to track levels of activity and detect falls, gait deviations and gait symmetry in children with CP in their daily environments. To date, only two types of sensors have been tested in this population and it remains to be clarified how wearable sensors, used to quantify activity level, might benefit children with CP.