A remote sensor-based 6-minute functional walking ability test

This paper proposes and implements an integrated remote sensor-based 6-minute walk test (6MWT) for monitoring a patient's clinical condition and correlate this data to the walking activity that the patient is performing to assess his/her functional ability and physical performance. The 6MWT is known to be one of the most effective rehabilitation tests for a clinician to assess individuals with a variety of clinical conditions including survivors of a critical illness. Our method deploys body sensors for measuring health conditions and an on-body accelerometer for detecting motion. An intelligent algorithm was developed to detect a walk step, count the number of steps, and dynamically derive the step distance based on an individual's real-time walking parameters. The path and the derived walk distance are then related to their vital signs to assess their functional ability under various walk conditions. Our remote 6MWT is being considered for a telehealth rehabilitation procedure in an integrated assistive healthcare system.