A Soft Wearable and Fully-Textile Piezoresistive Sensor for Plantar Pressure Capturing

The trends of wearable health monitoring systems have led to growing demands for gait-capturing devices. However, comfortability and durability under repeated stress are still challenging to achieve in existing sensor-enabled footwear. Herein, a flexible textile piezoresistive sensor (TPRS) consisting of a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-cotton) fabric electrode and an Ag fabric circuit electrode is proposed. Based on the mechanical and electrical properties of the two fabric electrodes, the TPRS exhibits superior sensing performance, with a high sensitivity of 3.96 kPa-1 in the lower pressure range of 0-36 kPa, wide force range (0-100 kPa), fast response time (170 ms), remarkable durability stability (1000 cycles) and detection ability in different pressures ranges. For the prac-tical application of capturing plantar pressure, six TPRSs were mounted on a flexible printed circuit board and integrated into an insole. The dynamic plantar pressure distribution during walking was derived in the form of pressure maps. The proposed fully-textile piezoresistive sensor is a strong candidate for next-generation plantar pressure wearable monitoring devices.

Automated summary

The study introduces a flexible textile piezoresistive sensor (TPRS) with high sensitivity, wide force range, fast response time, remarkable durability stability, and detection ability in different pressure ranges. By integrating six TPRS into an insole, the dynamic plantar pressure distribution during walking is captured effectively.