Department of Gerontology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Life Support Technology (Molten), Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
J Diabetes Res. 2017;2017:5350616. doi: 10.1155/2017/5350616. Epub 2017 Aug 3.
Forefoot load (FL) contributes to callus formation, which is one of the pathways to diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). In this study, we hypothesized that excessive FL, which cannot be detected by plantar load measurements within laboratory settings, occurs in daily walks. To demonstrate this, we created a FL estimation algorithm using foot motion data. Acceleration and angular velocity data were obtained from a motion sensor attached to each shoe of the subjects. The accuracy of the estimated FL was validated by correlation with the FL measured by force sensors on the metatarsal heads, which was assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The mean of correlation coefficients of all the subjects was 0.63 at a level corridor, while it showed an intersubject difference at a slope and stairs. We conducted daily walk measurements in two diabetic patients, and additionally, we verified the safety of daily walk measurement using a wearable motion sensor attached to each shoe. We found that excessive FL occurred during their daily walks for approximately three hours in total, when any adverse event was not observed. This study indicated that FL evaluation method using wearable motion sensors was one of the promising ways to prevent DFUs.
前足负荷（FL）可导致胼胝形成，这是糖尿病足溃疡（DFU）的途径之一。在这项研究中，我们假设在日常行走中存在实验室足底负荷测量无法检测到的过度 FL。为了证明这一点，我们使用足部运动数据创建了一个 FL 估计算法。加速度和角速度数据是从附着在受试者每只鞋上的运动传感器获得的。通过与附着在跖骨头上的力传感器测量的 FL 的 Pearson 相关系数来验证估计的 FL 的准确性。在水平走廊上，所有受试者的相关系数平均值为 0.63，而在斜坡和楼梯上则表现出个体间差异。我们在两名糖尿病患者中进行了日常行走测量，此外，我们还通过在每只鞋上附着可穿戴运动传感器来验证日常行走测量的安全性。我们发现，当没有观察到任何不良事件时，他们在日常行走中总共大约有三个小时会出现过度的 FL。这项研究表明，使用可穿戴运动传感器的 FL 评估方法是预防 DFU 的一种有前途的方法。
