A low-cost podoscope for extracting morphological features of the foot

Foot morphology evaluation techniques are commonly used to evaluate foot abnormalities. The foot is essential for keeping the biomechanical performance of the lower extremities. It is responsible for the support of body balance and stability during gait. For the qualitative examination of foot morphology, many podoscopes have been designed. However, these podoscopes are mainly expensive, complex to operate, and have low accessibility. As a consequence the goal of this research was to create a simple, low-cost podoscope to assess the plantar footprint. In addition to providing a visual representation of the supporting regions. The proposed system enables accurate estimation of clinical indexes of foot deformities. With bare feet, bipedal support, and orthostatic posture, The participant was placed on the podoscope. Doom camera was used to capture the image of the plantar of the foot, and the data was sent to a computer via LAN connection. Based on image processing techniques, the proposed podoscope can automatically estimate the Arch Index, the Chippaux-Smirak Index, the Staheli Index, and Wejsflog's index.Ten samples were tested by the proposed podoscope, and the calculated parameters defining foot deformities are presented. The proposed podoscope appears to have the advantages of simplicity, being portable, inexpensive enabling rapid and precise footprint assessment with correct diagnoses, as well as a record for future assessments, and being economically viable in countries with people having low socio-economic status

Development of a Fall Risk Asessment Tool Using Gait Analysis

In the United States, falls are one of the leading causes of fatal and non-fatal injuries for people of all ages. Current clinical methods to assess fall risk are impractical, and often do not use individuals’ actual performance. With current technological advances, and the Internet of Things (IoT), the tools are available to create a digital system that can take into account an individual’s actual performance in making a fall risk assessment. A digital insole based sensory computing system can collect and analyze human gait patterns to develop a fall risk assessment platform with great accuracy.The presented research considers current clinical methods and describes a computerized self-service platform that successfully addresses different gait variables and metrics critical to accurate fall risk assessment. The system incorporates a shoe insole with pressure sensors, and an accelerometer. Collected foot data are transferred to an analytics visualization platform. A wide range of gait pattern recognition metrics, and gait data analyses features are then displayed on the platform enabling specific fall risk assessment

Sistema de Monitorização em Tempo Real da Pressão Plantar e Dorsal do Pé

A diabetes é a doença crónica mais frequente no mundo ocidental sendo já considerada uma epidemia a nível mundial. Estima-se que afete aproximadamente 415 milhões de pessoas em todo o mundo, prevendo-se que, daqui a 20 anos, esse número possa ascender aos 642 milhões. A diabetes está associada a inúmeras complicações clínicas ao nível dos olhos, rins, sistema vascular, sistema nervoso e coração. Uma das complicações mais comuns e graves da diabetes é a ulceração do pé, sendo esta de complexo tratamento bem como com custos elevados associados, quer para o paciente quer para o sistema de saúde em geral. Sabe-se que cerca de 50% das úlceras em diabéticos infectam e cerca de 20% das infeções provocam a amputação de partes ou de todo o pé. Um dos fatores que leva à ulceração são as hiperpressões frequentes e repetitivas nas mesmas áreas do pé. Assim, acredita-se que uma melhor redistribuição das pressões plantares e constante monitorização das pressões em zonas tidas como de risco ao desenvolvimentos de úlceras, poderá revelar-se um factor preponderante na prevenção da formação destas e, consequentemente, poderá diminuir o risco de desenvolvimento lesões no pé. Torna-se por isso de extrema importância o desenvolvimento de sistemas de monitorização de pressões no pé, nomeadamente ao nível da zona plantar e dorsal, por serem estas as identificadas como zonas de risco à formação de úlceras. Esta dissertação apresenta o desenvolvimento de um protótipo que permite a monitorização das pressões na zona plantar e na zona dorsal do pé, adaptado a pessoas diabéticas. Deste modo, parte do trabalho consistiu no estudo de sensores que pudessem ser acoplados na palmilha de um sapato bem como na zona da gáspea (parte superior do sapato) tendo estes de ser devidamente adaptado à utilização por diabéticos. Este facto pressupõe que todo o sistema a ser implementado tenha de obedecer a padrões que continuem a permitir uma marcha confortável do paciente, o mais natural possível e sem que o sistema seja considerado um corpo estranho no interior do sapato, e como tal, uma fonte na formação de úlceras. Outros dos focos deste trabalho foi o estudo da melhor localização dos sensores e de todo o processo que leva a uma correta aquisição de dados. Por fim, foi validado o protótipo desenvolvido através de testes e consequente análise do resultados obtidos.Diabetes is the most frequent chronic disease in the western world and is already considered a worldwide epidemic. The estimation is that this disease affects approximately 415 million people, and there are predictions that this number may rise to 642 million in the next 20 years. Diabetes is associated with numerous clinical complications in the eyes, kidneys, heart, vascular and nervous system. One of the most common and significant complications of diabetes is foot ulceration, which is difficult to treat and has huge associated costs, both for the patient and the health system. About 50% of ulcers in diabetics become infected, 20% of those cause amputation of parts or all the foot. One of the factors that lead to ulceration is frequent and repetitive high pressure in the same areas of the foot. So a better redistribution of plantar pressures and constant monitoring of pressures in high-risk ulcers development areas is a crucial factor to prevent their formation and, consequently, to reduce foot injuries development risk. Thus, with ulceration prevention, it is estimated that amputation in more than 50% of patients, can be avoided. It is, therefore, crucial to develop systems for monitoring foot pressure, particularly in the plantar and dorsal areas, as these are known to be the risky points for ulcers formation. This dissertation presents the development of a prototype that allows the monitoring of pressures in the plantar and dorsal area of the foot, directed to diabetic people. Part of the work consists of sensor research to be attached to the insole as well to the upper part of a medical diabetic shoe. The goal was that the entire system must allow a comfortable gait for the patient, as natural as possible and without the feel of a foreign body inside the shoe which is usually the source of ulcers. Another focus of this work was studying the best location of sensors and the entire process that leads to correct data acquisition. Finally, prototype validation was done, through tests, analysis and results obtained

An Instrumented Insole System for Gait Monitoring and Analysis

Insole pressure during walking or running could be used to analyze abnormality of kinetic measurement for broad applications as such a diabetic foot, knee injuries and neural disorder. Moreover, some application of biometrics and human behavior also had been identified based on gait pattern. This project purposed a prototype for measuring ground reaction force using developed an instrumented insole measurement system based on dual-parameters of gait monitoring and analysis; foot force and plantar flexion. The system comprised hardware such as force and angle sensors, signal conditioning circuit and data acquisition device and software for signal's visualization for user interface and real-time gait analysis. The sensors will be placed on top of the shoe insole for measuring force distribution on foot and foot plantar for measuring flexion angle wired to a data acquisition device. The locations of the sensors have been determined based on the footprint during the gait cycle. This paper also presented details of components involved in the measurement system. It has been demonstrated that the developed system prototype could be used in the clinical gait monitoring and analysis established based on the foot force and plantar angle starting from heals strike till toe-off positions