Plantar Pressure Distribution Measurements: an Approach to Different Methods to Compute a Pressure Map

A variety of methods to process plantar pressure distribution data are available. The aim of this study was to compare alternative methods to compute a pressure map from collected data. Correlation coefficients between the pressure maps were used to ascertain whether the pressure maps contain the same information. The interface pressure data of twenty subjects was collected for the data analysis with commercial GAITRite walkway system. Stationary pressure distribution and pressure distributions at normal and fast walking speeds were recorded with each subject. The data was analyzed with Matlab software instead of the GAITRite software. Three alternative pressure maps (cumulative, maximum and average pressure maps) were computed from the measured data. The cumulative pressure map shows the sum of all pressure values detected with a single sensor. The maximum and average pressure maps, instead, present the maximum and mean pressure values of each sensor. The results of this study indicate that with stationary pressure distribution, both cumulative and maximum or average pressure maps should be presented. With pressure distributions measured at walking, instead, any of the three computing methods can be used.