For Clinical and Research Applications
by Cyma, Inc.
 | Objective quantitative measures of physical function have become increasingly important throughout many areas of medical, rehabilitation, health maintenance, and behavioral research and practice. The StepWatchTM activity monitor provides a reliable, unobtrusive means for obtaining such data. This highly accurate instrument allows users to easily record the number of steps a person or large animal takes every minute in normal daily life for up to six continuous weeks per session. |
The StepWatch was originally developed in a small research laboratory without resources to refine or commercialize the instrument. With assistance from a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant, awarded by the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, part of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the makes of StepWatch TM are now addressing issues related to user-friendliness and manufacturing, thus greatly improving the public's access to the device as well as the commercial viability of the technology (NIH Grant# R44 HD39036). SBIR-supported efforts are also underway to increase the usefulness of the system through the development of a central database, collection of normative data, and implementation of a web-based, single-test ordering system for clinical applications.
- See a sample day of minute-by-minute step activity.
- View a simple analysis that quantifies daily function and degree of sustained activity.
Informative profiles can be generated that reflect performance characteristics, such as overall intensity distribution, how well specific levels of activity are sustained, and the relationship between periods of activity and rest. These profiles provide "real life" ambulatory function data that a simple pedometer or gait laboratory testing cannot offer.
- Examine the walking activity measured for some sample occupations using the StepWatchTM.
- See the software interface for programming the StepWatchTM as well as its system requirements.
- See a list of past and current applications in which stepWatchTM has been used to investigate research questions in may diverse fields of study.
- Access a list of publications that have reported on research involving the StepWatchTM.
