title: In-shoe plantar pressure measurement and analysis system based on fabric pressure sensing array.
abstract: Spatial and temporal plantar pressure distributions are important and useful measures in footwear evaluation, athletic training, clinical gait analysis, and pathology foot diagnosis. However, present plantar pressure measurement and analysis systems are more or less uncomfortable to wear and expensive. This paper presents an in-shoe plantar pressure measurement and analysis system based on a textile fabric sensor array, which is soft, light, and has a high-pressure sensitivity and a long service life. The sensors are connected with a soft polymeric board through conductive yarns and integrated into an insole. A stable data acquisition system interfaces with the insole, wirelessly transmits the acquired data to remote receiver through Bluetooth path. Three configuration modes are incorporated to gain connection with desktop, laptop, or smart phone, which can be configured to comfortably work in research laboratories, clinics, sport ground, and other outdoor environments. A real-time display and analysis software is presented to calculate parameters such as mean pressure, peak pressure, center of pressure (COP), and shift speed of COP. Experimental results show that this system has stable performance in both static and dynamic measurements.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong. allen.shu@polyu.edu.hk
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.forename: Yangyong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Qiao Li
authors.forename: David Dagan
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D005528:Foot / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory; D011312:Pressure; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012775:Shoes; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012984:Software; D013686:Telemetry / Q000379:methods; D013696:Temperature; D013784:Textiles