Plantar pressure measurements using an in-shoe system and a pressure platform: a comparison

This study compared three different foot-pressure measurement methods to investigate whether these measurement methods could or should be used interchangeably. In-shoe pressure measurements using F-Scan system, shod and unshod pressure measurements using the MatScan system were taken for each of the 21 healthy subjects while performing walking trials using a two-step gait initiation protocol. Each foot was separated in three regions: forefoot (40%), midfoot (30%) and rearfoot (30%) for further analysis. The parameters researched include average peak pressure, average peak force, timing and centre of pressure displacement. The in-shoe condition produced the highest values for the average peak force. However, the shod condition showed a trend for the highest average peak pressure. The F-Scan system consistently demonstrated slower timing values for all parameters, except one. Centre of pressure anterior/posterior trajectory was considerably shorter for the in-shoe gait condition. Consequently, the data cannot be extrapolated from one collection method to another. It is therefore recommended that a standardised collection method is utilised when pressure analysis is undertaken and that they are not used interchangeably.