Development of A Wearable Human Gait Analysis System Based on Plantar Pressure Sensors

Foot plantar pressure provides plenty of information for gait research and medical diagnostics. Gait analysis can be used to evaluate stroke patient's mobility and rehabilitation status. However, most of existing gait analysis system can only be used in laboratory or indoor occasions. It makes a large limitation for the gait data collection and analysis. This paper presents a novel wearable human gait analysis system based on flexible circuit and piezoresistive pressure sensors. The insole embedded with 8 pressure sensors is fabricated to collect dynamic resistance varying signals due to the piezoresistive effect. Then the resistance signal is converted to voltage signals with a resistance-voltage conversion circuit board. The wireless transmitter sends the gait data to computer for real-time gait analysis via WIFI chip. The experiment results show the pressure difference on different area of foot plantar during walking, running and squatting. And several gait characteristics such as peak-peak voltage and mean voltage are also calculated and compared. It shows that this novel wearable insole device can be used to monitor plantar pressure during daily life effectively.