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Plantar pressure measurements can provide valuable insight into various health characteristics in patients. In this study, we describe different plantar pressure devices available on the market and their clinical relevance. Current devices are either platform-based or wearable and consist of a variety of sensor technologies: resistive, capacitive, piezoelectric, and optical. The measurements collected from any of these sensors can be utilized for a range of clinical applications including patients with diabetes, trauma, deformity and cerebral palsy, stroke, cervical myelopathy, ankle instability, sports injuries, and Parkinsons disease. However, the proper technology should be selected based on the clinical need and the type of tests being performed on the device. In this review we provide the reader with a simple overview of the existing technologies their advantages and disadvantages and provide application examples for each. Moreover, we suggest new areas in orthopaedic that plantar pressure mapping technology can be utilized for increased quality of care.

Roughly 1/3 of adults older than 65 fall each year, resulting in more than 3 million emergency room visits, thousands of deaths, and over $50 Billion in direct costs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 1/3 of falls are preventable with effective mitigation strategies, particularly for imbalance. Therefore, quantification of imbalance is being studied extensively in recent years. In this study we investigate the feasibility of plantar pressure mapping in balance assessment through a healthy human subject study. We used an in-house plantar pressure mapping device with high precision based on Frustrated Total Internal Reflection to measure subjects sway during the Romberg test. Through the measurements obtained from all subjects, we measured the minimum spatial resolution required for plantar pressure mapping devices in assessment of balance. We conclude that most of the current devices in the market lack the requirements for imbalance measurements.