Fiber Bragg Gratings Solution for Gait Assessement

Abstract

The continuous ageing of the population leads to increased health risks, while fast-growing advances in technology bring new possibilities to health care. Among the major health risks are, for example, stroke attacks, one of the main causes of physical disability. Therefore, in this work, we present a non-invasive device that uses two insoles with an embedded multiplexed Optical Fiber Sensor (OFS) network using Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) to monitor the distribution of the foot plantar force distribution during gait, thus allowing the evaluation of the gait and motion pattern providing feedback to a physiotherapist. The advantages of the proposed solution over traditional (non-optic) systems are discussed. The device was created with a set of companion software tools to enable the therapist to perform gait analysis easily. This paper presents the calibration procedure of the optical sensors and preliminary results associated with FBG working prototype.