Department of Technology and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Gait Posture. 2010 May;32(1):141-4. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2010.03.014. Epub 2010 Apr 15.
Accurate plantar pressure measurements are mandatory in both clinical and research contexts. Differences in accuracy, precision and reliability of the available devices have prevented so far the onset of standardization processes or the definition of reliable reference datasets. In order to comparatively assess the appropriateness of the most used pressure measurement devices (PMD) on-the-market, in 2006 the Institute the author is working for approved a two-year scientific project aimed to design, validate and implement dedicated testing methods for both in-factory and on-the field assessment. A first testing phase was also performed which finished in December 2008. Five commercial PMDs using different technologies-resistive, elastomer-based capacitive, air-based capacitive-were assessed and compared with respect to absolute pressure measurements, hysteresis, creep and COP estimation. The static and dynamic pressure tests showed very high accuracy of capacitive, elastomer-based technology (RMSE<0.5%), and quite a good performance of capacitive, air-based technology (RMSE<5%). High accuracy was also found for the resistive technology by TEKSCAN (RMSE<2.5%), even though a complex ad hoc calibration was necessary.
准确的足底压力测量在临床和研究中都是强制性的。由于现有设备的准确性、精度和可靠性存在差异，迄今为止，标准化过程或可靠参考数据集的定义一直无法开展。为了比较评估市场上最常用的压力测量设备（PMD）的适宜性，作者所在的研究所于 2006 年批准了一个为期两年的科学项目，旨在设计、验证和实施专门的出厂前和现场评估测试方法。该项目还进行了第一阶段的测试，于 2008 年 12 月完成。对使用不同技术（电阻式、基于弹性体的电容式、基于空气的电容式）的五种商用 PMD 进行了评估，并就绝对压力测量、滞后、蠕变和 COP 估计进行了比较。静态和动态压力测试表明，基于电容式、基于弹性体的技术具有非常高的精度（RMSE<0.5%），而基于电容式、基于空气的技术性能相当不错（RMSE<5%）。TEKSCAN 的电阻式技术也具有很高的精度（RMSE<2.5%），尽管需要进行复杂的特定校准。
