A Flexible Insole Gait Monitoring Technique for the Internet of Health Things

Gait analysis is important in the field of healthcare, due to its close relationship to chronic diseases. With the development of the Internet of Health Things (IoHT), long-term gait monitoring and corresponding analysis can be performed remotely, reducing a patient’s time and traffic cost, while providing doctors more valuable gait information. In this paper, we present a piezoelectric insole gait monitoring system and its use in an IoHT architecture. Through the experimental results, the high detection sensitivity of 3.56 kPa and responsivity of 2.35 mV/kPa are achieved. Besides, computer software is developed with Qt platform, and the cloud database is also established. The plantar pressure distribution and center of pressure (CoP) trajectory are provided for further analysis, thereby satisfying the need for analyzing various diseases. Furthermore, the assembled system can continuously work for 16 hours, indicating its successful utilization when long-term gait monitoring is required. The presented work provides a feasible means for real-time, long-term, and accurate gait monitoring, prompting the development of gait analysis in the IoHT.