A comparison of in-shoe pressure insoles and force plates in non-steady state activities of daily living

Wearable instruments for gait analysis offer new opportunities to study human motion during activities of daily living (ADL). Previous work has overlooked the importance of characterizing non-steady state ADL such as sit-to-stand, gait initiation/termination and turning using wearables. The purpose of this study is to assess the ability of instrumented insoles (MoticonScience, Germany) to measure vertical ground reaction forces (GRFz) during activities known to increase fall risk. Five healthy adults were recruited to perform defined ADL. The computed total force obtained from the sensors was compared to force plate data (AMTI, MA, USA). The high cross-correlation coefficients of these two signals revealed the capability of pressure insoles to measure GRFz during some of the most common non-steady state ADL associated with increased fall risk.