Design and Validation of an E-Textile-Based Wearable Sock for Remote Gait and Postural Assessment

Abstract

This paper presents a new wearable e-textile based system, named SWEET Sock, for biomedical signals remote monitoring. The system includes a textile sensing sock, an electronic unit for data transmission, a custom-made Android application for real-time signal visualization, and a software desktop for advanced digital signal processing. The device allows the acquisition of angular velocities of the lower limbs and plantar pressure signals, which are postprocessed to have a complete and schematic overview of patient’s clinical status, regarding gait and postural assessment. In this work, device performances are validated by evaluating the agreement between the prototype and an optoelectronic system for gait analysis on a set of free walk acquisitions. Results show good agreement between the systems in the assessment of gait cycle time and cadence, while the presence of systematic and proportional errors are pointed out for swing and stance time parameters. Worse results were obtained in the comparison of spatial metrics. The “wearability” of the system and its comfortable use make it suitable to be used in domestic environment for the continuous remote health monitoring of de-hospitalized patients but also in the ergonomic assessment of health workers, thanks to its low invasiveness.

A Pilot Study to Validate a Wearable Inertial Sensor for Gait Assessment in Older Adults with Falls

“…Cognitive functions, mainly executive functions, are related to gait pattern, coordination, and balance. They can explain motor syndrome associated with mild cognitive impairment and dementia as described by other authors [ 40 , 44 , 45 ]. Recently Mulas et al [ 46 ] published the results of gait assessment in Italian cognitive impaired older adults using wearable inertial sensors finding a significant reduction of speed in these patients and other changes in gait parameters.…”

“…Likewise, Vallabhajosula et al [ 24 ] conducted a study to validate their technological device based on pressure sensors to measure gait patterns and found that concurrent validity was acceptable. Also, a recent study conducted by Amitrano et al [ 40 ] validates a new wearable e-textile based system (SWEET Sock) for remote gait and postural assessment. It is of utmost importance to incorporate these devices in consultation to speed up the assessment process and to be able to anticipate risks of falls or deterioration of muscle health.…”

The E-Textile for Biomedical Applications: A Systematic Review of Literature

“…They performed a benchmarking analysis between the proposed device and the related gold standard, showing good agreement with an error lower than 1%. Amitrano et al [ 61 ] proposed a new wearable e-textile based system for biomedical signals remote monitoring able to acquire angular velocities of the lower limbs. Specifically, the system equips an IMU and textile pressure sensors made of EeonTex, namely a conductive and nonwoven microfiber with piezo-resistive functionality, which were placed correspondingly between the ankle and the plantar zone of the considered (3) HCs, respectively.…”

Falls in Post-Polio Patients: Prevalence and Risk Factors

“…Our results are supportive of new algorithms and applications that allow continuous measurement of gait velocity and cadence via the smartphone, placed on the body, in a bag, or on a belt [ 42 , 43 ]. Additional technologies that acquire spatio-temporal gait parameters include E-Textile-Based wearable socks [ 44 ], Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) [ 45 ], Hall-effect sensors [ 46 ], and smartwatches [ 47 ]. A thorough list of wearable sensors used for gait analysis is detailed in [ 46 ].…”