Department of Physics & I3N, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Nanophotonics Research Laboratory, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol 3036, Cyprus.
Sensors (Basel). 2017 Dec 16;17(12):2924. doi: 10.3390/s17122924.
We propose a novel polymer optical fiber (POF) sensing system based on fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) to measure foot plantar pressure. The plantar pressure signals are detected by five FBGs, in the same piece of cyclic transparent optical polymer (CYTOP) fiber, which are embedded in a cork insole for the dynamic monitoring of gait. The calibration and measurements performed with the suggested system are presented, and the results obtained demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of the sensing platform to monitor the foot plantar pressure distribution during gait motion and the application of pressure. This architecture does not compromise the patient's mobility nor interfere in their daily activities. The results using the CYTOP fiber showed a very good response when compared with solutions using silica optical fibers, resulting in a sensitivity almost twice as high, with excellent repeatability and ease of handling. The advantages of POF (e.g., high flexibility and robustness) proved that this is a viable solution for this type of application, since POF's high fracture toughness enables its application in monitoring patients with higher body mass compared with similar systems based on silica fiber. This study has demonstrated the viability of the proposed system based on POF technology as a useful alternative for plantar pressure detection systems.
我们提出了一种基于光纤布拉格光栅（FBG）的新型聚合物光纤（POF）传感系统，用于测量足底压力。足底压力信号由 5 个 FBG 检测，它们嵌入在一块软木鞋垫中的循环透明聚合物（CYTOP）光纤中，用于步态的动态监测。本文介绍了所提出系统的校准和测量，结果表明，该传感平台能够准确可靠地监测步态运动和压力应用过程中的足底压力分布。这种结构不会影响患者的活动能力，也不会干扰他们的日常活动。与使用石英光纤的解决方案相比，使用 CYTOP 光纤的结果显示出非常好的响应，灵敏度几乎提高了一倍，具有出色的可重复性和易用性。POF 的优势（例如，高柔韧性和坚固性）证明了这是此类应用的可行解决方案，因为 POF 的高断裂韧性使其能够应用于监测体重较高的患者，与基于石英纤维的类似系统相比。本研究证明了基于 POF 技术的拟议系统作为足底压力检测系统的一种有用替代方案的可行性。
