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An augmented auditory feedback device comprised of a thin membrane switch mini-buzzer, and battery is described as a modification of a previously described feedback device. The membrane switch can be customized for the patient and is designed to fit inside a patient's shoe without altering the heel height. Its appeal lies in its simplicity of construction, low cost, and ease of implementation during a patient's training for weight bearing and gait. An ever-present source of information, it provides performance-relevant cues to both patient and clinician about the occurrence, duration, and location of a force component of motor performance. The report includes suggested applications of the device, instructions to construct it, and a case report in which the device was used to improve weight bearing and gait in a cognitively healthy person with spina bifida.

Objective: To compare the concurrent validity and reliability of the GAITRite computerized gait analysis system with validated paper-and-pencil and video-based methods., Design: Within-groups, repeated-measures design., Setting: Research laboratory in a physical therapy education program., Participant: One healthy woman, age 27 years., Interventions: A subject walked across the walkway of the GAITRite system at various walking rates and degrees of step symmetry for 2 of the 3 analyses. Paper placed over the walkway enabled concurrent paper-and-pencil analysis. The subject was concurrently videotaped from the side. For the other analysis, a stride simulator with known step and stride lengths was applied to the walkway to simulate 2 steps and 1 stride., Main Outcome Measures: Cadence, walking speed, right and left step and stride lengths, and right and left step times., Results: Excellent paper-and-pencil and GAITRite correlations (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] > 95) for spatial measures and excellent video-based and GAITRite correlations (ICC > 93) for temporal measures were found. GAITRite measures of step lengths and times were reliable in both walkway center and left-of-center measurements., Conclusions: Based on this data, GAITRite is a valid and reliable tool for measuring selected spatial and temporal parameters of gait.