Center of pressure (COP) during gait is a useful measure for assessing gait ability and has been investigated using platform or insole systems. However, these systems have inherent restrictions in repeated measure design or in obtaining true vertical force. This study proposes a novel method based on a pressure-sensitive mat system for COP measurement and presents normal reference values for the system. To explore repeatability, this work also investigated relative and absolute intra-rater reliabilities and determined the number of footfalls required to obtain a reliable measurement. Ninety healthy young adults participated and performed barefoot walking on a force-sensitive mat at a comfortable and fast pace. The time points and subphase duration of the stance phase, displacement ranges, and mean locations of COP and velocity of COP excursion were parameterized. The results showed acceptable and consistent variabilities of the parameters. Seven footfalls were determined as the threshold for most parameters to show a good to reasonable level of reliability. In conclusion, the presented method can be used as a reliable measurement for COP excursion, and it is recommended that more than seven footfalls be collected to ensure a high level of reliability.

中文翻译：

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基于压敏垫的压力偏移中心步态分析的新方法

步态过程中的压力中心（COP）是评估步态能力的一种有用方法，已经使用平台或鞋垫系统进行了研究。但是，这些系统在重复测量设计或获得真正的垂直力方面有固有的限制。这项研究提出了一种基于压敏垫系统的COP测量的新方法，并提出了该系统的正常参考值。为了探索可重复性，这项工作还调查了相对和绝对内部评估者的可靠性，并确定了获得可靠测量所需的人流数量。九十名健康的年轻人参加了比赛，并以舒适，快速的步伐在力敏感垫上赤脚行走。姿态阶段的时间点和子阶段持续时间，位移范围，并设置了COP的平均位置和COP偏移速度。结果显示参数的可接受且一致的可变性。确定七个人流作为大多数参数的阈值，以显示出良好至合理的可靠性水平。总之，提出的方法可以用作COP偏移的可靠测量方法，建议收集7个以上的脚步以确保高度的可靠性。