A Holter-type microprocessor-based rehabilitation instrument for acquisition and storage of plantar pressure data in children with cerebral palsy.

A multichannel, portable data acquisition system has been developed to measure discrete plantar pressures in the rehabilitation of children who have cerebral palsy and planovalgus foot deformity. The microprocessor-based system is designed to be lightweight (350 g with batteries) and portable (no umbilicus) in order to minimize encumbrances to gait patterns. It provides an improved method for obtaining accurate and reliable data during extended recording and rehabilitative periods that is not available from commercial systems. Twelve conductive polymer force (pressure) sensors are used to acquire pressure data, which are then stored in the system memory. Plantar pressures are sampled at a rate of 40 Hz from each of the 12 sensors for up to 2 h. The system consists of 16 analog amplifiers, a 12 b sampling analog-to-digital converter, an 8 b Dallas semiconductor microprocessor (DS5001FP-16, Dallas, TX), 4 MB of pseudo static RAM, and serial and parallel I/O interfaces. The interfaces are used to upload data into a PC for further processing, analysis, and display. During subject testing, sensors are located at predetermined anatomic areas under the calcaneus, medial and lateral midfoot, medial and lateral metatarsal heads, and hallux. Foot pressure data has been acquired from two pediatric subjects during multiple walking trials to illustrate system application in the normal and planovalgus foot. The system is considered to be appropriate for further clinical application and for characterization of event related alterations including rehabilitative, therapeutic, surgical, and nonsurgical treatment.

[1]  E K Antonsson,et al.  The frequency content of gait. , 1985, Journal of biomechanics.

[2]  W J Tompkins,et al.  A portable insole plantar pressure measurement system. , 1992, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[3]  Fulford Ge,et al.  Surgical management of ankle and foot deformities in cerebral palsy. , 1990 .

[4]  James R. Gage,et al.  Gait Analysis in Cerebral Palsy , 1991 .

[5]  Willis J. Tompkins,et al.  Piezoelectric sensor for foot pressure management , 1989, Images of the Twenty-First Century. Proceedings of the Annual International Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society,.

[6]  E. Bleck.  Orthopaedic management of cerebral palsy , 1987 .

[7]  S. A. Riedel,et al.  Force magnitude and spectral frequency content of heel strike during gait , 1989, Images of the Twenty-First Century. Proceedings of the Annual International Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society,.

[8]  P. Bach-y-Rita,et al.  Capacitive sensors for measuring the pressure between the foot and shoe , 1988, Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[9]  P. Bach-y-Rita,et al.  A conductive polymer pressure sensor , 1988, Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[10]  W.J. Tompkins,et al.  A microprocessor-based data-acquisition system for measuring plantar pressures from ambulatory subjects , 1991, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[11]  J G Webster,et al.  A capacitance pressure sensor using a phase-locked loop. , 1989, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[12]  W.J. Tompkins,et al.  An umbilical data-acquisition system for measuring pressures between the foot and shoe , 1990, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.