“Falls and frailty is one of the biggest problems post Covid, which was bad even before the pandemic,” Dr Diana Hodgins, MBE says.
“You tell an eighty year old to sit for two years. And then guess what? When they go out, they fall over.
“It’s not surprising that we’re in this situation.”
Diana is CEO of Dynamic Metrics and the brainchild of GaitSmart. The sensor expert and engineer has worked on innovative products her entire life.
Diana started developing GaitSmart almost 18 years ago. The technology has evolved considerably over that time.
She says:
“We had a product quite early and we talked to various people. Everyone talks about doing a gait test or gait analysis. But what do they actually mean by that?
“This whole concept of a gait analysis was so ill-defined that we were in this horrible mele.”
There was no objective way to measure gait and little understanding of how data could support rehab.
A physio might ask their patient to walk across the room. They might assess their stride or how confidently they walk.
But unless a physio can accurately measure those metrics, it’s all subjective. And what happens if the patient doesn’t see the same physio every time?
How GaitSmart works:
- Wireless sensors are attached to a patient who walks 10m with the sensors recording their movements.
- The GaitSmart Report then details seventeen gait kinetic parameters alongside overall gait scores.
- The report also provides a personalised exercise rehabilitation programme to address the patient’s gait deficiencies identified.
The technology has been designed with both accuracy and simplicity in mind, with a traffic light system indicating the individual’s strengths and weaknesses.
Diana says:
“You can do a measurement and a rehab all in one. This is a total healthcare solution that no one in the world offers.
“It’s unique and it’s very, very simple for the patient and the clinician.
“You can’t just tell a 90 year old to walk faster, because they’ll just fall over.
“You have to understand why they’re walking slowly. And if you put that right, they will speed up. You have to act on the result.
“If a patient has high blood pressure, what do you do? You act on it. You tell them to change a habit and take a statin and because you’re trying to address the cause.
“If you address the cause, you improve the result.”
Patients really appreciate the simplicity and clarity of GaitSmart, Diana says.
The company has assessed people from their 40s to their 90s, all of whom like being told what the problem is.
In a recent survey, GaitSmart users were asked how much more confident in walking they were after the intervention.
Around 70 per cent said they felt significantly more confident, compared to 30 per cent in the control group.
“Most people want independence as they get older. We forget this,” Diana says.
“They don’t want to be stuck in a house with a wheeler not being able to get on the bus to meet with friends for a coffee.
“But they’re scared. And the more scared they get, the less they move. The muscles get weak and they fall over, then they’re more scared. It’s a vicious circle.”
“We tend to say, ‘I can see what you’re doing wrong. I need you to do this.’ But then the patient doesn’t understand what the expert is saying.
“But if they say that your GaitSmart score has gone from 50 to 55 per cent since your last session, you can see that process. Next time, you can aim for 60 per cent.”
Sadly, the intervention often only arrives after a fall has taken place. Diana wants to change that.
Diana says:
“We’re very good at treating people. You go to hospital, we look after you, get you up, get you moving, send you home.
“At the moment, the waiting lists are so long that you might not be seen again.
“And if you fall again, you’re probably going to be even worse. So it’s harder and harder to get you mobile again.
“But if we catch you early, you are less likely to have a long term effect because you can put things right.”
In February, NICE published a medtech innovation briefing (MIB) for the technology.
Meanwhile, promising clinical trials could help see GaitSmart adopted by more widely across the NHS and private practices.
Diana says:
“We’re always looking at new things. The biggest hurdle is changing care pathways.
“We want patients to be able to go to a hub, be assessed and complete whatever treatment is needed.
“And whatever your situation, you’ve always got that data.”
This is an excerpt from our Special Report: Falls Management – Innovations for an Ageing Population
