Neural Network-Based approach for Hemiplegia Detection via Accelerometer Signals

This article introduces a method that can automatically classify the hemiplegia type (right or left side of the body is paralyzed) between healthy and non-healthy subjects. The proposed method utilizes the data taken from the accelerometer sensor of the RehaGait mobile gait analysis system. These data undergo a pre-processing and feature extraction stage before being sent as input to a scaled conjugate gradient backpropagation (SCG-BP) trained neural network. The proposed system is tested using a custom-created dataset containing 10 healthy and 20 patients suffering from hemiplegia (right or left). The experimental part of the system utilized 7 sensors placed on the left and right foot, the left and right shank, the left and right thigh, and the hip of each subject. Each sensor captured a 3-dimensional (3D) signal from 3 different device types: accelerometer, magnetometer, and gyroscope. The system utilized and split into 2-second windows only the accelerometer data, achieving a classification accuracy of 87.71%.