Adjustable Compliance Footwear Technology to Investigate Gait Adaptation

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Rehabilitation Engineering
• Neurology

Background:

• Neuropathology-induced kinetic gait asymmetries significantly impair mobility.
• Gait perturbation training shows potential for neurological gait rehabilitation.
• Current training methods face challenges transferring treadmill benefits to overground walking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop novel adjustable compliance footwear technology.
• To enable kinetic gait perturbation training on both treadmills and overground.
• To address the limited transfer of benefits from treadmill to overground gait training.

Main Methods:

• Developed a wearable pneumatic actuation system for adjustable footwear compliance.
• Integrated custom air pockets in a lattice midsole, wirelessly controlled.
• Measured sole deflection using Hall effect sensors and magnets (1.7 mm accuracy).
• Demonstrated system capability through overground walking and treadmill trials with asymmetric compliance.

Main Results:

• The footwear system can independently and wirelessly adjust midsole compliance and energy absorption.
• Successfully triggered multiple compliance changes during overground walking.
• Recorded ground reaction forces and sensor data during treadmill walking with asymmetric compliance.

Conclusions:

• The developed adjustable compliance footwear is a promising technology for gait perturbation training.
• This innovation has the potential to enhance the transfer of training benefits between treadmill and overground walking.
• Future research will focus on gait adaptation studies using this asymmetric footwear perturbation system.