Comparison of the Capacitance of a Cyclically Fatigued Stretch Sensor to a Non-Fatigued Stretch Sensor When Performing Static and Dynamic Foot-Ankle Motions
Andrea Karen Persons,
Carver Middleton,
Erin Parker,
Will Carroll,
Alana Turner,
Purva Talegaonkar,
Samaneh Davarzani,
David Saucier,
Harish Chander,
John E. Ball,
Steven H. Elder,
Chartrisa LaShan Simpson,
David Macias,
Reuben F. Burch V.
Affiliations
Andrea Karen Persons
The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, Jameson Crane Sports Medicine Institute, Columbus, OH 43202, USA
Carver Middleton
Department of Human Factors & Athlete Engineering, Human Performance Lab, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA
Erin Parker
Department of Human Factors & Athlete Engineering, Human Performance Lab, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA
Will Carroll
Department of Human Factors & Athlete Engineering, Human Performance Lab, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA
Alana Turner
Department of Human Factors & Athlete Engineering, Human Performance Lab, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA
Purva Talegaonkar
Department of Human Factors & Athlete Engineering, Human Performance Lab, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA
Samaneh Davarzani
Department of Human Factors & Athlete Engineering, Human Performance Lab, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA
David Saucier
Department of Human Factors & Athlete Engineering, Human Performance Lab, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA
Harish Chander
Department of Human Factors & Athlete Engineering, Human Performance Lab, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA
John E. Ball
Department of Human Factors & Athlete Engineering, Human Performance Lab, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA
Steven H. Elder
Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA
Chartrisa LaShan Simpson
Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA
David Macias
OrthoVirginia, 1920 Ballenger Ave., Alexandria, VA 22314, USA
Reuben F. Burch V.
Department of Human Factors & Athlete Engineering, Human Performance Lab, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA
Motion capture is the current gold standard for assessing movement of the human body, but laboratory settings do not always mimic the natural terrains and movements encountered by humans. To overcome such limitations, a smart sock that is equipped with stretch sensors is being developed to record movement data outside of the laboratory. For the smart sock stretch sensors to provide valuable feedback, the sensors should have durability of both materials and signal. To test the durability of the stretch sensors, the sensors were exposed to high-cycle fatigue testing with simultaneous capture of the capacitance. Following randomization, either the fatigued sensor or an unfatigued sensor was placed in the plantarflexion position on the smart sock, and participants were asked to complete the following static movements: dorsiflexion, inversion, eversion, and plantarflexion. Participants were then asked to complete gait trials. The sensor was then exchanged for either an unfatigued or fatigued plantarflexion sensor, depending upon which sensor the trials began with, and each trial was repeated by the participant using the opposite sensor. Results of the tests show that for both the static and dynamic movements, the capacitive output of the fatigued sensor was consistently higher than that of the unfatigued sensor suggesting that an upwards drift of the capacitance was occurring in the fatigued sensors. More research is needed to determine whether stretch sensors should be pre-stretched prior to data collection, and to also determine whether the drift stabilizes once the cyclic softening of the materials comprising the sensor has stabilized.
