Wearable Biaxial Force Sensing System for Foot Pronation/Supination Monitoring

Abstract

Foot pronation/supination is the inward/outward roll of the foot while walking or running. When the foot is excessively pronated or supinated during walking or running, the shock generated at the instant of contact between the foot and the surface may not be evenly distributed over the foot causing severe knee pain and back pain. Additionally, the angle distortion between the foot and ankle may lead to a variety of musculoskeletal issues in other regions of the kinetic chain causing muscle imbalances [1]. In clinical practice, the navicular drop test is used as a measure for foot pronation and supination [2]. The navicular drop test describes the range of sagittal deformation of the midfoot during the stance phase of gait. However, the identification of pronation/supination status of the foot using kinematic measures are challenging due to the structural complexity of the foot and ankle. Therefore, we propose a wearable biaxial force sensing system that can be used to monitor the kinetic information, namely, the GRF data to identify the extent of pronation or supination.