Paper Info
Title
MEMS Technology Sensors as a More Advantageous Technique for Measuring Foot Plantar Pressure and Balance in Humans.
Abstract
Locomotor activities are part and parcel of daily human life. During walking or running, feet are subjected to high plantar pressure, leading sometimes to limb problems, pain, or foot ulceration. A current objective in foot plantar pressure measurements is developing sensors that are small in size, lightweight, and energy efficient, while enabling highmobility, particularly for wearable applications. Moreover, improvements in spatial resolution, accuracy, and sensitivity are of interest. Sensors with improved sensing techniques can be applied to a variety of research problems: diagnosing limb problems, footwear design, or injury prevention. This paper reviews commercially available sensors used in foot plantar pressure measurements and proposes the utilization of pressure sensors based on the MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technique. Pressure sensors based on this technique have the capacity to measure pressure with high accuracy and linearity up to high pressure levels. Moreover, being small in size, they are highly suitable for this type of measurement. We present two MEMS sensor models and study their suitability for the intended purpose by performing several experiments. Preliminary results indicate that the sensors are indeed suitable for measuring foot plantar pressure. Importantly, by measuring pressure continuously, they can also be utilized for body balance measurements.
Year
DOI
Venue
2016
10.1155/2016/6590252
JOURNAL OF SENSORS
Field
DocType
Volume
Plantar pressure,Microelectromechanical systems,Efficient energy use,Simulation,Wearable computer,High pressure,Body balance,Pressure sensor,Mems sensors,Engineering
Journal
2016
ISSN
Citations 
PageRank 
1687-725X
1
0.38
References 
Authors
1
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Clara Sanz Morère110.38
Lukasz Surazynski210.38
Ana Rodrigo Pérez-Tabernero310.38
Erkki Vihriälä440.84
Teemu Myllylä581.55