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Abstract An active lifestyle can mitigate physical decline and cognitive impairment in older adults. Regular walking exercises for older individuals result in enhanced balance and reduced risk of falling. In this article, we present a study on gait monitoring for older adults during walking using an integrated system encompassing an assistive robot and wearable sensors. The system fuses data from the robot onboard Red Green Blue plus Depth (RGB-D) sensor with inertial and pressure sensors embedded in shoe insoles, and estimates spatiotemporal gait parameters and dynamic margin of stability in real-time. Data collected with 24 participants at a community center reveal associations between gait parameters, physical performance (evaluated with the Short Physical Performance Battery), and cognitive ability (measured with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment). The results validate the feasibility of using such a portable system in out-of-the-lab conditions and will be helpful for designing future technology-enhanced exercise interventions to improve balance, mobility, and strength and potentially reduce falls in older adults.
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This content will become publicly available on April 1, 2026
The Effect of Shoe Insole Stiffness Modifications on Walking Performance in Older Adults: A Feasibility Study
Shoes or insoles embedded with carbon fiber materials to increase longitudinal stiffness have been shown to enhance running and walking performance in elite runners, and younger adults, respectively. It is unclear, however, if such stiffness modifications can translate to enhanced mobility in older adults who typically walk with greater metabolic cost of transport compared to younger adults. Here, we sought to test whether adding footwear stiffness via carbon fiber insoles could improve walking outcomes (eg, distance traveled and metabolic cost of transport) in older adults during the 6-minute walk test. 20 older adults (10 M/10 F; 75.95 [6.01] y) performed 6-minute walk tests in 3 different shoe/insole stiffnesses (low, medium, and high) and their own footwear (4 total conditions). We also evaluated participants’ toe flexor strength and passive foot compliance to identify subject-specific factors that influence performance from added shoe/insole stiffnesses. We found no significant group differences in distance traveled or net metabolic cost of transport (P ≥ .171). However, weaker toe flexors were associated with greater improvement in distance traveled between the medium and low stiffness conditions (P = .033,r = −.478), indicating that individual foot characteristics may help identify potential candidates for interventions involving footwear stiffness modifications.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2203143
- PAR ID:
- 10584410
- Publisher / Repository:
- JAB / Pubmed
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Applied Biomechanics
- Volume:
- 41
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 1065-8483
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 124 to 131
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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