Body stability and balanced plantar pressure distribution measurement using optical sensors

Balance checking is the method used to measure plantar pressure distribution in two ways, static and dynamic. In static mode, the patient is asked to stand still on the platform with optical sensors for ten seconds. The results show that the centroids of the feet of those who are capable of keeping good balance hardly disperse compare to those who are not. In dynamic mode, the patient keeps on stepping at the same point on the platform for eight to ten times. By comparing pressure between the right foot and the left one, one can tell whether the patient has balanced weight distribution or not. All data collected from these two modes is plotted and analyzed by using MATLAB. In this paper, three parameters, standard deviation of centroids from static mode, average and maximum pressure from dynamic mode are used to indicate patient's balance keeping ability. In order to tell that the patient has a good balance, the three parameters of the graph must follow conditions determined by the physician.