3D video imagery of the foot and plantar pressure to examine foot rotation and loading for older adults

Due to age-related deterioration of the balance and neuromuscular systems, falls experienced by older people during gait, could result in serious injuries. The risk of falls sustained by older people can be increased because of stability and balance impairment caused by any factor, which in turn may impair the foot function during normal gait. This investigation involved innovative techniques to perform the correlation between human 3D gait phase images and the corresponding plantar pressure images. The research was carried out to examine foot rotation and loading based on integrating the human lower limb movement with its corresponding plantar pressure data. The acquisition of the 3D models of human lower limb and foot was obtained utilising photogrammetric techniques whereas a set of plantar pressure data was acquired using floor-based pressure mat system. A number of male individuals (adults and older adults) were recruited in this study to perform typical barefoot walking. The findings showed that there is noticeable difference in contact pressures and contact areas between the three older individuals in all the eight foot regions. The contact pressure results showed a huge difference between older individuals in all the eight foot regions except the areas of mid-stance and toe-off portions. The research developed a high-accuracy correlation technique for the centre of pressure (COP) excursion and 3D lower limb-foot movement. The correlated data permitted full comparison and evaluation of the gait trial based on barefoot of adults and older adults participated in this study.