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A new highly reliable gait phase detection system, which can be used in gait analysis applications and to control the gait cycle of a neuroprosthesis for walking, is described. The system was designed to detect in real-time the following gait phases: stance, heel-off, swing, and heel-strike. The gait phase detection system employed a gyroscope to measure the angular velocity of the foot and three force sensitive resistors to assess the forces exerted by the foot on the shoe sole during walking. A rule-based detection algorithm, which was running on a portable microprocessor board, processed the sensor signals. In the presented experimental study ten able bodied subjects and six subjects with impaired gait tested the device in both indoor and outdoor environments (0-25/spl deg/C). The subjects were asked to walk on flat and irregular surfaces, to step over small obstacles, to walk on inclined surfaces, and to ascend …