In-Shoe Plantar Pressure Measurement and Analysis System Based on Fabric Pressure Sensing Array

• Published in: IEEE transactions on information technology in biomedicine Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 767 - 775
• Main Authors: Lin Shu, Tao Hua, Yangyong Wang, Qiao Li, Feng, David Dagan, Xiaoming Tao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01.05.2010
• Subjects: Adult; Biomechanical Phenomena - physiology; Fabric pressure sensor array; Fabrics; Foot; Foot - anatomy & histology; Foot - physiology; Footwear; Humans; Humidity; Intelligent sensors; Male; Middle Aged; Monitoring, Ambulatory; Optical arrays; Pathology; plantar pressure; Pressure; Pressure measurement; Reproducibility of Results; Sensor arrays; Sensor systems; Shoes; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Software; Telemetry - methods; Temperature; Textiles; wireless communication
• DOI: 10.1109/TITB.2009.2038904
• ISSN: 1089-7771; 1558-0032

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.