Smart Shoes for Gait and Mobility Assessment

Abstract

Gait analysis is an important medical diagnostic process which can be used in many applications like mobility assessment, healthcare, sports training, therapy, rehabilitation and many more. This analysis is usually carried out in gait laboratories, which maj ority of population is not aware especially in developing countries like India. Hence the development of shoe-based system that can track the walking pattern of a person by obtaining gait parameters is necessary. Depending on these gait parameters it can be concluded whether a person has a normal walking pattern or there are any abnormalities while walking. The system comprises of three Force Sensing Resistors (FSR), one Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor and one Ultrasound sensor on each leg which is connected to Arduino controller. FSRs are placed at pressure points located under foot. The three FSRs are placed at heel point, fore-foot point and thumb point under each foot. IMU and ultrasound sensor is placed above the shoe. These sensor values are sent using Bluetooth to the system wirelessly for further analysis. The parameters Stance (ST), Swing (SW), Heel-Strike (HS), Heel-Off (HO) and Stride Length (SL) are obtained based on the sensor values. Analysis of these parameters is performed to any abnormalities in walking pattern.