Integrated Wearable System for Monitoring Skeletal Muscle Force of Lower Extremities

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Wearable Technology
• Sports Science

Background:

• Continuous monitoring of lower extremity muscles is vital for daily activities like walking and balance.
• Existing methods (electromyography, physiological cross-sectional area) have limitations in precision, real-time data acquisition, and user comfort.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and validate an integrated smart compression stocking system (STIMES) for monitoring lower extremity muscle force.
• To address the limitations of conventional methods by incorporating fabric-based sensors and a user-centered design.

Main Methods:

• Development of a smart compression stocking system including fabric-embedded capacitive pressure sensors, an edge control unit, a mobile app, and cloud backend.
• Clinical experiments with twelve healthy individuals performing isometric ankle plantarflexion contractions.
• Simultaneous data collection using the STIMES and a commercial muscle force measurement system (Humac NORM).

Main Results:

• High linear correlation (coefficients > 0.92) was observed between the STIMES readout and muscle torque.
• Statistical analysis indicated that ankle angle had a more significant effect on results than individual subjects.
• The system demonstrated high accuracy and reliability in measuring isometric muscle force.

Conclusions:

• The integrated smart compression stocking system is a viable tool for monitoring lower extremity muscle force in isometric conditions.
• STIMES offers a comfortable and precise alternative for muscle force assessment.
• This technology has potential applications in rehabilitation, sports performance, and daily activity monitoring.