Six-axis force sensing footwear for natural walking analysis

This paper describes "six-axis force sensing footwear" which is a sensor designed analyze the natural walking dynamics of a human being. The system fixes to the shank link and uses prosthetic feet, which have flexible soles for walking. We verified the system in a comparison experiment of force plate with footwear. Most of the walking data using the system can be considered as the same as normal data because of moment and force pattern. We conducted the walk experiment also on uneven ground. Measures of walking patterns such as knee joint moment are the same when wearing the sensor as when walking naturally. The comparison showed that the system could be used for natural waking analysis.