Pressure-Sensitive Insoles for Real-Time Gait-Related Applications
Wearable robotic devices require sensors and algorithms that can recognize the user state in real-time, in order to provide synergistic action with the body. For devices intended for locomotion-related applications, shoe-embedded sensors are a common and convenient choice, potentially advantageous f...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/5/1448 |
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| author | Elena Martini Tommaso Fiumalbi Filippo Dell’Agnello Zoran Ivanić Marko Munih Nicola Vitiello Simona Crea |
| author_facet | Elena Martini Tommaso Fiumalbi Filippo Dell’Agnello Zoran Ivanić Marko Munih Nicola Vitiello Simona Crea |
| author_sort | Elena Martini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wearable robotic devices require sensors and algorithms that can recognize the user state in real-time, in order to provide synergistic action with the body. For devices intended for locomotion-related applications, shoe-embedded sensors are a common and convenient choice, potentially advantageous for performing gait assessment in real-world environments. In this work, we present the development of a pair of pressure-sensitive insoles based on optoelectronic sensors for the real-time estimation of temporal gait parameters. The new design makes use of a simplified sensor configuration that preserves the time accuracy of gait event detection relative to previous prototypes. The system has been assessed relatively to a commercial force plate recording the vertical component of the ground reaction force (vGRF) and the coordinate of the center of pressure along the so-called progression or antero-posterior plane (CoP<sub>AP</sub>) in ten healthy participants during ground-level walking at two speeds. The insoles showed overall median absolute errors (MAE) of 0.06 (0.02) s and 0.04 (0.02) s for heel-strike and toe-off recognition, respectively. Moreover, they enabled reasonably accurate estimations of the stance phase duration (2.02 (2.03) % error) and CoP<sub>AP</sub> profiles (Pearson correlation coefficient with force platform ρCoP = 0.96 (0.02)), whereas the correlation with vGRF measured by the force plate was lower than that obtained with the previous prototype (ρvGRF = 0.47 (0.20)). These results confirm the suitability of the insoles for online sensing purposes such as timely gait phase estimation and discrete event recognition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:32:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9b87109c63b442d1a8ccafe5a0466e8b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:32:15Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-9b87109c63b442d1a8ccafe5a0466e8b2022-12-22T03:59:20ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202020-03-01205144810.3390/s20051448s20051448Pressure-Sensitive Insoles for Real-Time Gait-Related ApplicationsElena Martini0Tommaso Fiumalbi1Filippo Dell’Agnello2Zoran Ivanić3Marko Munih4Nicola Vitiello5Simona Crea6The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, 56127 Pisa, ItalyThe BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, 56127 Pisa, ItalyThe BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, 56127 Pisa, ItalyFaculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaFaculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaThe BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, 56127 Pisa, ItalyThe BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, 56127 Pisa, ItalyWearable robotic devices require sensors and algorithms that can recognize the user state in real-time, in order to provide synergistic action with the body. For devices intended for locomotion-related applications, shoe-embedded sensors are a common and convenient choice, potentially advantageous for performing gait assessment in real-world environments. In this work, we present the development of a pair of pressure-sensitive insoles based on optoelectronic sensors for the real-time estimation of temporal gait parameters. The new design makes use of a simplified sensor configuration that preserves the time accuracy of gait event detection relative to previous prototypes. The system has been assessed relatively to a commercial force plate recording the vertical component of the ground reaction force (vGRF) and the coordinate of the center of pressure along the so-called progression or antero-posterior plane (CoP<sub>AP</sub>) in ten healthy participants during ground-level walking at two speeds. The insoles showed overall median absolute errors (MAE) of 0.06 (0.02) s and 0.04 (0.02) s for heel-strike and toe-off recognition, respectively. Moreover, they enabled reasonably accurate estimations of the stance phase duration (2.02 (2.03) % error) and CoP<sub>AP</sub> profiles (Pearson correlation coefficient with force platform ρCoP = 0.96 (0.02)), whereas the correlation with vGRF measured by the force plate was lower than that obtained with the previous prototype (ρvGRF = 0.47 (0.20)). These results confirm the suitability of the insoles for online sensing purposes such as timely gait phase estimation and discrete event recognition.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/5/1448optoelectronic sensorswearable sensorssensorized insoleplantar pressure distributionreal-time gait monitoringrobot control |
| spellingShingle | Elena Martini Tommaso Fiumalbi Filippo Dell’Agnello Zoran Ivanić Marko Munih Nicola Vitiello Simona Crea Pressure-Sensitive Insoles for Real-Time Gait-Related Applications Sensors optoelectronic sensors wearable sensors sensorized insole plantar pressure distribution real-time gait monitoring robot control |
| title | Pressure-Sensitive Insoles for Real-Time Gait-Related Applications |
| title_full | Pressure-Sensitive Insoles for Real-Time Gait-Related Applications |
| title_fullStr | Pressure-Sensitive Insoles for Real-Time Gait-Related Applications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pressure-Sensitive Insoles for Real-Time Gait-Related Applications |
| title_short | Pressure-Sensitive Insoles for Real-Time Gait-Related Applications |
| title_sort | pressure sensitive insoles for real time gait related applications |
| topic | optoelectronic sensors wearable sensors sensorized insole plantar pressure distribution real-time gait monitoring robot control |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/5/1448 |
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