Validation of Plantar Pressure and Reaction Force Measured by Moticon Pressure Sensor Insoles on a Concept2 Rowing Ergometer

Recent Innovations in Footwear and the Role of Smart Footwear in Healthcare-A Survey

Smart shoes have ushered in a new era of personalised health monitoring and assistive technologies. Smart shoes leverage technologies such as Bluetooth for data collection and wireless transmission, and incorporate features such as GPS tracking, obstacle detection, and fitness tracking. As the 2010s unfolded, the smart shoe landscape diversified and advanced rapidly, driven by sensor technology enhancements and smartphones' ubiquity. Shoes have begun incorporating accelerometers, gyroscopes, and pressure sensors, significantly improving the accuracy of data collection and enabling functionalities such as gait analysis. The healthcare sector has recognised the potential of smart shoes, leading to innovations such as shoes designed to monitor diabetic foot ulcers, track rehabilitation progress, and detect falls among older people, thus expanding their application beyond fitness into medical monitoring. This article provides an overview of the current state of smart shoe technology, highlighting the integration of advanced sensors for health monitoring, energy harvesting, assistive features for the visually impaired, and deep learning for data analysis. This study discusses the potential of smart footwear in medical applications, particularly for patients with diabetes, and the ongoing research in this field. Current footwear challenges are also discussed, including complex construction, poor fit, comfort, and high cost.

Does Kinesio taping of tibialis posterior or peroneus longus have an immediate effect on improving foot posture, dynamic balance, and biomechanical variables in young women with flexible flatfoot?

BACKGROUND

Flexible flatfoot is common in young adults. One of its causes is the failure of dynamic stabilizers, which play an important role in the medial longitudinal arch support, and their appropriate function is necessary for the integrity of the lower extremity and the spine.

OBJECTIVE

The study aimed to determine Kinesio taping on which extrinsic foot muscle provides greater benefit regarding enhancement of foot posture, dynamic balance, and biomechanical parameters in functional tasks immediately.

METHODS

Thirty women were recruited for the study. They were randomly divided into groups (A = 15, B = 15). In group A, Kinesio taping was applied on the tibialis posterior (TP), and in group B, Kinesio taping was applied on the peroneus longus (PL) and remained for 30 min. Outcome measures were the navicular drop test (NDT), foot posture index (FPI), Y-balance test, and biomechanical parameters in functional tasks. Before/After within-group and between-group comparisons of outcome measures were performed.

RESULTS

NDT and FPI decreased in both groups (p < 0.05) with no significant difference between groups. In group A, maximum total force of the stance phase (MaxTFSP) during running increased, and some temporal parameters were changed. (p < 0.05). In group B, Y-balance test improved in all directions, and the width of the gait line during walking increased. There were no significant differences in the postural stability parameters in the within-group comparison, except for mean center of pressure displacement in group B (p = 0.04).

CONCLUSION

Kinesio taping of both muscles could improve foot posture. TP Kinesio taping can increase the MaxTFSP during running and alter some temporal parameters during walking and running tasks. PL Kinesio taping could lead to better dynamic stability and coordination during dynamic tasks. Each muscle can be considered a therapeutic target for a specific purpose.

Smart Shoe Insole Based on Polydimethylsiloxane Composite Capacitive Sensors

Nowadays, the study of the gait by analyzing the distribution of plantar pressure is a well-established technique. The use of intelligent insoles allows real-time monitoring of the user. Thus, collecting and analyzing information is a more accurate process than consultations in so-called gait laboratories. Most of the previous published studies consider the composition and operation of these insoles based on resistive sensors. However, the use of capacitive sensors could provide better results, in terms of linear behavior under the pressure exerted. This behavior depends on the properties of the dielectric used. In this work, the design and implementation of an intelligent plantar insole composed of capacitive sensors is proposed. The dielectric used is a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based composition. The sensorized plantar insole developed achieves its purpose as a tool for collecting pressure in different areas of the sole of the foot. The fundamentals and details of the composition, manufacture, and implementation of the insole and the system used to collect data, as well as the data samples, are shown. Finally, a comparison of the behavior of both insoles, resistive and capacitive sensor-equipped, is made. The prototype presented lays the foundation for the development of a tool to support the diagnosis of gait abnormalities.

A Focused Review on the Flexible Wearable Sensors for Sports: From Kinematics to Physiologies

As an important branch of wearable electronics, highly flexible and wearable sensors are gaining huge attention due to their emerging applications. In recent years, the participation of wearable devices in sports has revolutionized the way to capture the kinematical and physiological status of athletes. This review focuses on the rapid development of flexible and wearable sensor technologies for sports. We identify and discuss the indicators that reveal the performance and physical condition of players. The kinematical indicators are mentioned according to the relevant body parts, and the physiological indicators are classified into vital signs and metabolisms. Additionally, the available wearable devices and their significant applications in monitoring these kinematical and physiological parameters are described with emphasis. The potential challenges and prospects for the future developments of wearable sensors in sports are discussed comprehensively. This review paper will assist both athletic individuals and researchers to have a comprehensive glimpse of the wearable techniques applied in different sports.

Evaluation of the Foot Center of Pressure Estimation from Pressure Insoles during Sidestep Cuts, Runs and Walks

Estimating the foot center of pressure (CoP) position by pressure insoles appears to be an interesting technical solution to perform motion analysis beyond the force platforms surface area. The aim of this study was to estimate the CoP position from Moticon® pressure insoles during sidestep cuts, runs and walks. The CoP positions assessed from force platform data and from pressure insole data were compared. One calibration trial performed on the force platforms was used to localize the insoles in the reference coordinate system. The most accurate results were obtained when the motion performed during the calibration trial was similar to the motion under study. In such a case, mean accuracy of CoP position have been evaluated to 15±4mm along anteroposterior (AP) axis and 8.5±3mm along mediolateral (ML) axis for sidestep cuts, 18±5mm along AP axis and 7.3±4mm along ML axis for runs, 15±6mm along AP axis and 6.6±3mm along ML axis for walks. The accuracy of the CoP position assesment from pressure insole data increased with the vertical force applied to the pressure insole and with the number of pressure cells involved.

Recent Trends and Practices Toward Assessment and Rehabilitation of Neurodegenerative Disorders: Insights From Human Gait

The study of human movement and biomechanics forms an integral part of various clinical assessments and provides valuable information toward diagnosing neurodegenerative disorders where the motor symptoms predominate. Conventional gait and postural balance analysis techniques like force platforms, motion cameras, etc., are complex, expensive equipment requiring specialist operators, thereby posing a significant challenge toward translation to the clinics. The current manuscript presents an overview and relevant literature summarizing the umbrella of factors associated with neurodegenerative disorder management: from the pathogenesis and motor symptoms of commonly occurring disorders to current alternate practices toward its quantification and mitigation. This article reviews recent advances in technologies and methodologies for managing important neurodegenerative gait and balance disorders, emphasizing assessment and rehabilitation/assistance. The review predominantly focuses on the application of inertial sensors toward various facets of gait analysis, including event detection, spatiotemporal gait parameter measurement, estimation of joint kinematics, and postural balance analysis. In addition, the use of other sensing principles such as foot-force interaction measurement, electromyography techniques, electrogoniometers, force-myography, ultrasonic, piezoelectric, and microphone sensors has also been explored. The review also examined the commercially available wearable gait analysis systems. Additionally, a summary of recent progress in therapeutic approaches, viz., wearables, virtual reality (VR), and phytochemical compounds, has also been presented, explicitly targeting the neuro-motor and functional impairments associated with these disorders. Efforts toward therapeutic and functional rehabilitation through VR, wearables, and different phytochemical compounds are presented using recent examples of research across the commonly occurring neurodegenerative conditions [viz., Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease (HD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)]. Studies exploring the potential role of Phyto compounds in mitigating commonly associated neurodegenerative pathologies such as mitochondrial dysfunction, α-synuclein accumulation, imbalance of free radicals, etc., are also discussed in breadth. Parameters such as joint angles, plantar pressure, and muscle force can be measured using portable and wearable sensors like accelerometers, gyroscopes, footswitches, force sensors, etc. Kinetic foot insoles and inertial measurement tools are widely explored for studying kinematic and kinetic parameters associated with gait. With advanced correlation algorithms and extensive RCTs, such measurement techniques can be an effective clinical and home-based monitoring and rehabilitation tool for neuro-impaired gait. As evident from the present literature, although the vast majority of works reported are not clinically and extensively validated to derive a firm conclusion about the effectiveness of such techniques, wearable sensors present a promising impact toward dealing with neurodegenerative motor disorders.

Test-Retest Reliability of PODOSmart® Gait Analysis Insoles

It is recognized that gait analysis is a powerful tool used to capture human locomotion and quantify the related parameters. PODOSmart^® insoles have been designed to provide accurate measurements for gait analysis. PODOSmart^® insoles are lightweight, slim and cost-effective. A recent publication presented the characteristics and data concerning the validity of PODOSmart^® insoles in gait analysis. In literature, there is still no evidence about the repeatability of PODOSmart^® gait analysis system. Such evidence is essential in order to use this device in both research and clinical settings. The aim of the present study was to assess the repeatability of PODOSmart^® system. In this context, it was hypothesized that the parameters of gait analysis captured by PODOSmart^® would be repeatable. In a sample consisting of 22 healthy male adults, participants performed two walking trials on a six-meter walkway. The ICC values for 28 gait variables provided by PODOSmart^® indicated good to excellent test-retest reliability, ranging from 0.802 to 0.997. The present findings confirm that PODOSmart^® gait analysis insoles present excellent repeatability in gait analysis parameters. These results offer additional evidence regarding the reliability of this gait analysis tool.