Smart Socks and In-Shoe Systems: State-of-the-Art for Two Popular Technologies for Foot Motion Analysis, Sports, and Medical Applications
Andrei Drăgulinescu,
Ana-Maria Drăgulinescu,
Gabriela Zincă,
Doina Bucur,
Valentin Feieș,
Dumitru-Marius Neagu
Affiliations
Andrei Drăgulinescu
Electronics Technology and Reliability Department, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 061071 Bucharest, Romania
Ana-Maria Drăgulinescu
Telecommunications Department, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 061071 Bucharest, Romania
Gabriela Zincă
Automation and Industrial Informatics Department, Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 061071 Bucharest, Romania
Doina Bucur
Mechatronics Department, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Faculty of Medical Engineering, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 061071 Bucharest, Romania
Valentin Feieș
Electronics Technology and Reliability Department, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 061071 Bucharest, Romania
Dumitru-Marius Neagu
National Institute of Metrology, 042122 Bucharest, Romania
The present paper reviews, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, the most recent advances in research concerning two popular devices used for foot motion analysis and health monitoring: smart socks and in-shoe systems. The first one is representative of textile-based systems, whereas the second one is one of the most used pressure sensitive insole (PSI) systems that is used as an alternative to smart socks. The proposed methods are reviewed for smart sock use in special medical applications, for gait and foot pressure analysis. The Pedar system is also shown, together with studies of validation and repeatability for Pedar and other in-shoe systems. Then, the applications of Pedar are presented, mainly in medicine and sports. Our purpose was to offer the researchers in this field a useful means to overview and select relevant information. Moreover, our review can be a starting point for new, relevant research towards improving the design and functionality of the systems, as well as extending the research towards other areas of applications using sensors in smart textiles and in-shoe systems.
