The development of an intraoperative plantar pressure assessment device.
BACKGROUND
The goal of this study was to develop an accurate and reliable supine plantar pressure measurement apparatus that could potentially be used in the operating room to guide operative decision making. It was hypothesized that plantar pressures would be similar in supine and vertical posture trials.


METHODS
A supine plantar pressure system was developed using the Pliance 32 sensor array (Novel, Munich, Germany). Accuracy was tested with a standardized manometer and the Trublu calibration system (Novel). Next, bilateral feet of 10 healthy, asymptomatic patients were tested in the apparatus by two separate investigators. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to determine intrarater and interrater reliability for parameters of average mean pressure (AMP), peak pressure (PP) and percentage of total force (PF). Finally, plantar pressures were tested in vertical posture and compared to supine parameters.


RESULTS
The sensor was both linear and accurate. The ICC values demonstrated that the sensor was reliable for AMP (0.66 to 0.93), PP (0.75 to 0.94), and PF (0.69 to 0.97). In general, AMP, PP, and PF values were significantly different at most anatomical regions for supine and vertical posture trials (p < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
This intraoperative pressure measurement system provided an accurate, linear, and reliable method to measure plantar pressure parameters in the supine subject. These measures were similar in magnitude to vertical posture, but were statistically different.


CONCLUSIONS
This intraoperative plantar pressure system could guide operative reconstruction of foot deformities whose outcome depends on the distribution of pressures across the plantar foot.
Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY, 10021, USA. elliss@hss.edu
Scott J
SJ
Ellis
Howard
H
Hillstrom
Richard
R
Cheng
Joe
J
Lipman
Glen
G
Garrison
Jonathan T
JT
Deland
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001835:Body Weight; D003878:Dermatoglyphics; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011312:Pressure; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D016683:Supine Position; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult