Do you include gait analysis in your assessments to help you craft the perfect program? A new technology may simplify the process. Stevens Institute of Technology researchers in Hoboken, New Jersey, have developed an insole—complete with sensors—that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze gait parameters with almost as much accuracy as much more expensive and cumbersome lab equipment. The “smart” insole can capture as many as 500 readings per second using gyroscopes, accelerometers and force sensors and requires only a few minutes of treadmill walking or running to provide results. This was reported in IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering (2020; 28 [1]).

Principal investigator and study author Damiano Zanotto, PhD, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Stevens, said, “We’re now able to accurately analyze a person’s gait in real time, in real-world environments.”

Zanotto and his team are seeking patents for the product, called SportSole. “We’re achieving the same or better results [as high-end sensors] at a far lower cost, and that’s a big deal when it comes to scaling this technology.”