Effect of Walking Speeds on Complexity of Plantar Pressure Patterns

Various walking speeds may induce different responses on the plantar pressure patterns. Current methods used to analyze plantar pressure patterns are linear and ignore nonlinear features. The purpose of this study was to analyze the complexity of plantar pressure images after walking at various speeds using nonlinear bidimensional multiscale entropy (MSE2D). Twelve participants (age: 27.1 ± 5.8 years; height: 170.3 ± 10.0 cm; and weight: 63.5 ± 13.5 kg) were recruited for walking at three speeds (slow at 1.8 mph, moderate at 3.6 mph, and fast at 5.4 mph) for 20 minutes. A plantar pressure measurement system was used to measure plantar pressure patterns. Complexity index (CI), a summation of MSE2D from all time scales, was used to quantify the changes of complexity of plantar pressure images. The analysis of variance with repeated measures and Fisher’s least significant difference correction were used to examine the results of this study. The results showed that CI of plantar pressure images of 1.8 mph (1.780) was significantly lower compared with 3.6 (1.790) and 5.4 mph (1.792). The results also showed that CI significantly increased from the 1st min (1.780) to the 10th min (1.791) and 20th min (1.791) with slow walking (1.8 mph). Our results indicate that slow walking at 1.8 mph may not be good for postural control compared with moderate walking (3.6 mph) and fast walking (5.4 mph). This study demonstrates that bidimensional multiscale entropy is able to quantify complexity changes of plantar pressure images after different walking speeds.

Applications of Plantar Pressure Measurement- A Review

Foot plantar pressure is the pressure field that acts between the foot and the support surface during locomotor activities. Information obtained from such pressure measurement gives us ankle and foot functions during gait and other activities. The ankle and foot provide the required support to do different activities like walking, playing, running etc. Data from plantar pressure measurement is crucial for diagnosing lower limb problems, designing a footwear, sport biomechanics, injury prevention and diagnosis. This paper concentrates on the applications of foot plantar pressure measurement in different fields and its future scope.

Optical-Based Foot Plantar Pressure Measurement System for Potential Application in Human Postural Control Measurement and Person Identification

Plantar pressure, the pressure exerted between the sole and the supporting surface, has great potentialities in various research fields, including footwear design, biometrics, gait analysis and the assessment of patients with diabetes. This research designs an optical-based foot plantar pressure measurement system aimed for human postural control and person identification. The proposed system consists of digital cameras installed underneath an acrylic plate covered by glossy white paper and mounted with LED strips along the side of the plate. When the light is emitted from the LED stripes, it deflects the digital cameras due to the pressure exerted between the glossy white paper and the acrylic plate. In this way, the cameras generate color-coded plantar pressure images of the subject standing on the acrylic-top platform. Our proposed system performs personal identification and postural control by extracting static and dynamic features from the generated plantar pressure images. Plantar pressure images were collected from 90 individuals (40 males, 50 females) to develop and evaluate the proposed system. In posture balance evaluation, we propose the use of a posture balance index that contains both magnitude and directional information about human posture balance control. For person identification, the experimental results show that our proposed system can achieve promising results, showing an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.98515 (98.515%), an equal error rate (EER) of 5.8687%, and efficiency of 98.515%.

Does QUICK TAPE Offer Comparable Support and Off-loading as Low-Dye Taping?

Background Low-Dye taping is commonly used to manage foot pathologies and pain. Precut one-piece QUICK TAPE was designed to facilitate taping. However, no study to date has demonstrated that QUICK TAPE offers similar support and off-loading as traditional taping. Methods This pilot study compared the performance of QUICK TAPE and low-Dye taping in 20 healthy participants (40 feet) with moderate-to-severe pes planus. Study participants completed arch height index (AHI), dynamic plantar assessment with a plantar pressure measurement system, and subjective rating in three conditions: barefoot, low-Dye, and QUICK TAPE. The order of test conditions was randomized for each participant, and the taping was applied to both feet based on a standard method. A generalized estimating equation with an identity link function was used to examine differences across test conditions while accounting for potential dependence in bilateral data. Results Participants stood with a significantly greater AHI (P = .007) when either taping was applied compared with barefoot. Participants also demonstrated significantly different plantar loading when walking with both tapings versus barefoot. Both tapings yielded reduced force-time integral (FTI) in the medial and lateral forefoot and increased FTI under toes. Unlike previous studies, however, no lateralization of plantar pressure was observed with either taping. Participants ranked both tapings more supportive than barefoot. Most participants (77.8%) ranked low-Dye least comfortable, and 55.6% preferred QUICK TAPE over low-Dye. Conclusions Additional studies are needed to examine the clinical utility of QUICK TAPE in individuals with foot pathologies such as heel pain syndrome and metatarsalgia.

Peak Plantar Pressure as a Risk Factor for Lower Extremity Overuse Injury Among Infantry Soldiers

The majority of reported injuries among military populations are injuries due to cumulative repetitive microtrauma — overuse injuries. Plantar pressure measurement is a simple tool to analyse lower limb biomechanics through the assessment of forces applied to the foot. This study aimed to determine the relation between peak plantar pressure and lower extremity overuse. Sixty-six active-duty infantry male soldiers, with mean age 29.7 years (range 22–40 years), and mean service time 5.2 years (range 1–15 years) participated. The highest peak plantar pressure (PPP) at the forefoot occurred at the hallux (cases: 50.82 n/cm2, SD = 38.84; control: 34.39 n/cm2, SD= 28.03) and 3rd metatarsal head (cases: 54.40 n/cm2, SD = 33.83; control: 49.16 n/cm2, SD=28.87). The study demonstrated elevated PPP among cases. Statistically significant results were found at the hallux (χ2(1) = 6.8; p = 0.01), medial heel (χ2(1) = 5.18; p = 0.02) and lateral heel (χ2(1) = 12.12; p < 0.01) regions. The results show that plantar pressure assessment could be used as a useful screening tool for early lower extremity overuse injury detection.