A Wearable Insole System to Measure Plantar Pressure and Shear for People with Diabetes
Pressure coupled with shear stresses are the critical external factors for diabetic foot ulceration assessment and prevention. To date, a wearable system capable of measuring in-shoe multi-directional stresses for out-of-lab analysis has been elusive. The lack of an insole system capable of measurin...
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/6/3126 |
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author | Jinghua Tang Dan L. Bader David Moser Daniel J. Parker Saeed Forghany Christopher J. Nester Liudi Jiang |
author_facet | Jinghua Tang Dan L. Bader David Moser Daniel J. Parker Saeed Forghany Christopher J. Nester Liudi Jiang |
author_sort | Jinghua Tang |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Pressure coupled with shear stresses are the critical external factors for diabetic foot ulceration assessment and prevention. To date, a wearable system capable of measuring in-shoe multi-directional stresses for out-of-lab analysis has been elusive. The lack of an insole system capable of measuring plantar pressure and shear hinders the development of an effective foot ulcer prevention solution that could be potentially used in a daily living environment. This study reports the development of a first-of-its-kind sensorised insole system and its evaluation in laboratory settings and on human participants, indicating its potential as a wearable technology to be used in real-world applications. Laboratory evaluation revealed that the linearity error and accuracy error of the sensorised insole system were up to 3% and 5%, respectively. When evaluated on a healthy participant, change in footwear resulted in approximately 20%, 75% and 82% change in pressure, medial–lateral and anterior–posterior shear stress, respectively. When evaluated on diabetic participants, no notable difference in peak plantar pressure, as a result of wearing the sensorised insole, was measured. The preliminary results showed that the performance of the sensorised insole system is comparable to previously reported research devices. The system has adequate sensitivity to assist footwear assessment relevant to foot ulcer prevention and is safe to use for people with diabetes. The reported insole system presents the potential to help assess diabetic foot ulceration risk in a daily living environment underpinned by wearable pressure and shear sensing technologies. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:56:16Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-6de56fc09b4540eb905a05e08187c50e |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1424-8220 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:56:16Z |
publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
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series | Sensors |
spelling | doaj.art-6de56fc09b4540eb905a05e08187c50e2023-11-17T13:46:20ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202023-03-01236312610.3390/s23063126A Wearable Insole System to Measure Plantar Pressure and Shear for People with DiabetesJinghua Tang0Dan L. Bader1David Moser2Daniel J. Parker3Saeed Forghany4Christopher J. Nester5Liudi Jiang6School of Engineering, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UKSchool of Health Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UKSchool of Engineering, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UKSchool of Health and Society, University of Salford, Salford M6 6PU, UKSchool of Allied Health Professions, Keele University, Keele, Newcastle ST5 5BG, UKSchool of Allied Health Professions, Keele University, Keele, Newcastle ST5 5BG, UKSchool of Engineering, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UKPressure coupled with shear stresses are the critical external factors for diabetic foot ulceration assessment and prevention. To date, a wearable system capable of measuring in-shoe multi-directional stresses for out-of-lab analysis has been elusive. The lack of an insole system capable of measuring plantar pressure and shear hinders the development of an effective foot ulcer prevention solution that could be potentially used in a daily living environment. This study reports the development of a first-of-its-kind sensorised insole system and its evaluation in laboratory settings and on human participants, indicating its potential as a wearable technology to be used in real-world applications. Laboratory evaluation revealed that the linearity error and accuracy error of the sensorised insole system were up to 3% and 5%, respectively. When evaluated on a healthy participant, change in footwear resulted in approximately 20%, 75% and 82% change in pressure, medial–lateral and anterior–posterior shear stress, respectively. When evaluated on diabetic participants, no notable difference in peak plantar pressure, as a result of wearing the sensorised insole, was measured. The preliminary results showed that the performance of the sensorised insole system is comparable to previously reported research devices. The system has adequate sensitivity to assist footwear assessment relevant to foot ulcer prevention and is safe to use for people with diabetes. The reported insole system presents the potential to help assess diabetic foot ulceration risk in a daily living environment underpinned by wearable pressure and shear sensing technologies.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/6/3126diabetic foot ulcerpressureshearinsole systemplantar stress |
spellingShingle | Jinghua Tang Dan L. Bader David Moser Daniel J. Parker Saeed Forghany Christopher J. Nester Liudi Jiang A Wearable Insole System to Measure Plantar Pressure and Shear for People with Diabetes Sensors diabetic foot ulcer pressure shear insole system plantar stress |
title | A Wearable Insole System to Measure Plantar Pressure and Shear for People with Diabetes |
title_full | A Wearable Insole System to Measure Plantar Pressure and Shear for People with Diabetes |
title_fullStr | A Wearable Insole System to Measure Plantar Pressure and Shear for People with Diabetes |
title_full_unstemmed | A Wearable Insole System to Measure Plantar Pressure and Shear for People with Diabetes |
title_short | A Wearable Insole System to Measure Plantar Pressure and Shear for People with Diabetes |
title_sort | wearable insole system to measure plantar pressure and shear for people with diabetes |
topic | diabetic foot ulcer pressure shear insole system plantar stress |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/6/3126 |
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