A fundamental study of a wearable foot plantar pressure measurement system for diagnosing vestibular disorders

Abstract

Posturography measures the position of the center of mass during upright stance.The trajectory of the center of pressure is considered to be a useful quantitative parameter for diagnosing vestibular disorders. However, posturography equipment is expensive and heavy to transport, and direct evaluation of the balance ability in walking using center of pressure signals is difficult. Thus, differential diagnosis of walking balance and standing balance using wearable sensors might provide a useful alternative to posturography. We developed a wearable foot plantar pressure measurement system for diagnosing vestibular disorders using micromachined air pressure sensors. A newly designed cover/coupler to securely convey foot plantar pressure to the sensor was mounted on each sensor because the sensor was primarily developed for measuring manifold air pressure. In this report, we describe details of the hardware and software of the proposed system and its capabilities.