Smart Insoles and Smarter Health: The Future of Gait-Based Diagnostics

One of the activities we all engage in daily is walking. While you may not pay much attention to the way you or anyone else walks, their gait can tell a lot about their health.This is because the central nervous system is involved in controlling the movement of our limbs and maintaining posture while the body is in motion.

Impaired movement and walking are actually a result of neurological damage, musculoskeletal disorders, and degenerative pathologies. Traditionally, these conditions are diagnosed by physicians based on physical and medical examinations, with gait analysis performed only in advanced hospitals and on a limited number of patients.Many scientists argue that gait analysis should be performed on all patients at risk of these diseases, as well as those requiring long-term rehabilitation.



This makes sense for a number of reasons.For one, about 7% of the US population is suffering from serious ambulatory difficulties, which refer to problems with walking, running, moving around, or ascending stairs. These ambulatory difficulties are a common and significant feature of many neurocognitive disorders like dementia and Parkinson's disease (PD), which are on the rise.

PD, in particular, leads to trouble controlling muscle movement, which is seen as postural instability and gait freezing. Stroke also causes asymmetrical limb movements.Then there is the huge cost attached to these diseases.

For instance, movement disorders cost an estimated 5% of the US GDP. And a lot of these diseases are defined by declining motor control, such as uneven gait and irregularity in walking. These changes in motor signs can actually be detected long before the disease is diagnosed and can help in the treatment.

For instance, in PD, by the time clinical diagnostic criteria are met, the majority of the patient’s neurons have already degenerated.So, there’s clearly a need to monitor gait and plantar pressure during daily activities to help with the early detection of various disorders, allowing for early intervention that can potentially prevent and slow disease progression. Identifying gait irregularities at an early stage further allows healthcare professionals to take personalized therapeutic approaches and improve overall patient outcomes.

In addition to diagnosing and managing specific conditions, gait analysis in the elderly population offers a non-invasive and cost-effective method for maintaining overall health and independence. Here, technologies like smartphones, sensors, and sensing fabric are some of the low-cost and easily available options for monitoring individuals’ activities. Wearable devices are another important tool that can play a crucial role, providing daily surveillance of walking.

In particular, integrating sensors into shoes to create wearable electronic devices offers a promising strategy that overcomes the problem of pressure-sensing platforms currently used in medical practice to measure plantar pressure distribution. The use of these platforms is limited by time and spatial constraints. A new study, therefore, built a smart wireless insole system for spatially resolved monitoring of plantar pressure, which refers to the force distribution across the sole during weight-bearing activities, such as walking.

This fully integrated, self-powered system enables gait visualization in real-time in multiple modes.Real-Time Gait Monitoring Through Integrated Sensor NetworkResearchers from The Ohio State University have designed a new wearable smart insole that monitors how you stand, walk, and run in real time. This system can help users not only improve their posture but also provide early warnings for conditions ranging from simple plantar fasciitis, a common cause of heel pain, to more serious conditions like Parkinson’s disease.

This wearable was built using twenty-two small (CNT/ACET/PDMS) pressure sensors and on the tops of the shoes, small solar panels were utilized for power. In order to power the entire system effectively and sustainably, a flexible perovskite solar cell (FPSC) was designed with high power density, high power conversion efficiency, and sufficient flexibility to withstand mechanical stresses when in use.The system offers real-time health tracking based on how a person walks, a process as unique as their fingerprints.

The pressure-sensing data is then collected and transmitted via Bluetooth to a smartphone for quick and detailed analysis. The data is transmitted in real time, which allows the user to visualize the plantar pressure distribution in three different modes on their smartphone app.According to study co-author Jinghua Li, who’s an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Ohio State:“Our bodies carry lots of useful information that we’re not even aware of.

These statuses also change over time, so it’s our goal to use electronics to extract and decode those signals to encourage better self health care checks.”This is, of course, not the first such attempt at a wearable, which has seen increased interest in the last few years. Previous prototypes, however, faced low energy limitations and unstable performance.

So, the team has to ensure that their wearable is durable, can provide consistent and reliable power, and can collect and analyze data with a high degree of accuracy. “Our device is innovative in terms of high resolution, spatial sensing, self-powering capability, and its ability to combine with machine learning algorithms. So we feel like this research can go further based on the pioneering successes of this field.

”– The study’s lead author Qi Wang, who’s a PhD student in materials science and engineering at Ohio StatePublished in the journal Science Advances1, the study details the development of the fully self-powered smart system.The insole here is made up of polyimide (PI) encapsulation layers, electrodes, carbon nanotube/acetylene black/polydimethylsiloxane (CNT/ACET/PDMS), and a PDMS layer. PDMS is actually known for its biocompatibility, flexibility, and ability to be molded into various shapes.

The sensors are densely integrated into the PDMS layer, where they convert pressure signals into electrical signals. The signals are collected by the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) on the printed circuit board (PCB) and transmitted to a mobile device. The use of PDMS as the sensor structural material and embedding the sensors into the PDMS layer allows the insole to be highly durable, giving it the ability to withstand stretching, twisting, and folding.

Click here to learn about smart clothes for motion capture that can change sport & physiotherapy.AI-Driven Motion Recognition & Sustainable Power SolutionBesides the design and development of CNT/ACET/PDMS pressure sensors, the fully integrated, wireless smart insole system also had two other major achievements, which include ensuring a sustainable power supply and the use of AI to capture and accurately recognize motion states. The team actually incorporated the support vector machine (SVM) learning model into the smart insole system to classify and recognize different human motion states.

Compared to deep learning models, this machine learning model offers the benefits of faster training speed, independence from large datasets, well-defined decision boundaries, and clear optimization objectives, making it well-suited for this study. The model was trained on data collected under eight different motion states. The dataset included a total of 1275 labeled samples, of which 80% were used for training and the rest for validation.

Once trained, the SVM model could categorize the input data and generate recognition results, which the study noted to be 100% for all the trained states.Using this advanced model, the system was able to identify eight different motion states. This includes static movements such as sitting and standing, to more dynamic ones like squatting and running.

It also covers single-leg standing, walking, and ascending and descending stairs.The distribution of sensors from toe to heel, meanwhile, enables researchers to see just how the pressure on parts of the foot is different with different activities, such as walking versus running.Because of the complex pressure patterns seen in the toe and heel regions, a greater number of sensors are placed there, while fewer (only two) are in the arch area.

This design strategy ensures that even with limited sensors, essential foot pressure information is effectively captured. As you would expect, during walking, pressure is applied sequentially from the heel to the toes, in contrast to running, where almost all sensors are subjected to pressure simultaneously. Additionally, the pressure application time during waking accounts for only about half of the total time, and only about a quarter of it during running.

As for safety, the team ensures that their device is low-risk by using flexible and safe materials for the insoles. For continuous use, the team has installed tiny lithium batteries that power the wearable system. The flexible perovskite solar modules (FPSMs) convert sunlight into energy, which then gets stored in these batteries, enabling a self-sufficient energy supply.

These batteries, integrated into the insole’s arch area to enhance comfort, convenience, and stability, do not affect the user’s daily activities or cause any harm.Toward Personalized, Preventive, & Predictive HealthcareWhen it comes to performance, the smart insoles created by the researchers showed impressive results. They suffered no notable deterioration even after 180,000 cycles of compression and decompression, which demonstrates their stability and long-term durability.

“The interface is flexible and quite thin, so even during repetitive deformation, it can remain functional. The combination of the software and hardware means it isn’t as limited.”– LiSo, with their smart insoles, the researchers aim to support gait analysis to detect early abnormalities associated with neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, musculoskeletal disorders, and foot pressure-related conditions like diabetic foot ulcers.

The system's low cost, along with its mechanical robustness and ease of fabrication, allows for customized, ergonomic designs for patients with high arches or flat feet.Additionally, the use of AI in the new system makes it possible to provide healthcare tailored to each individual's specific needs and lifestyle. This means wearers can even use it to correct their posture, prevent injuries, and monitor rehabilitation.

But this isn’t all; researchers also believe that their system can be adapted for motion optimization, fatigue prediction, and customized fitness training in the future. The study noted:“Overall, the integrated smart insole serves as a viable solution to revolutionizing next-generation health care practices and the internet of things. The concept involving the synergy of materials, devices, hardware, and software can potentially expand to alternative fields, opening exciting opportunities for digital interaction between humans and the world.

”Now, if you're wondering when you can get your hands on these wearables, researchers expect the technology to be commercially available within the next three to five years.For now, the researchers are working on further improving their system’s ability to recognize gestures, which would require testing on more diverse populations. According to Li:“We have so many variations among individuals, so demonstrating and training these fantastic capabilities on different populations is something we need to give further attention to.

Click here to learn about the new smart mask that can analyze breath condensate for illnesses in real-time.Innovative CompaniesNike Inc. (NKE -1.

47%)In the world of wearables, tech giants Apple (AAPL +0.44%) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL +1.

68%) have captured a significant market share. Apple is leading in wearable health tech through its Apple Watch, while Google is making its mark with the fitness tracker Fitbit.But today, we’ll cover the footwear giant Nike, which has been constantly expanding its digital health and smart apparel offerings.

In the wearables market, Nike has offered multiple products over the years, including wrist-worn devices like sports watches and activity tracker bands.Last summer, Nike launched its self-lacing basketball shoe Adapt BB, which, as the name suggests, adapts itself to the shape of your foot in real time for the optimal feel. A custom motor and gear train in the shoe senses space around your foot and subsequently adjusts to provide you with a snug fit.

Nike Adapt BB is a continually updated performance product that comes with an app and an advanced power-lacing system. The company has chosen basketball as the spot for its shoe debut, with the FitAdapt system to be applied to other sports and lifestyle products in the future once it is honed to provide the optimal quality fit in basketball.Nike has also announced a partnership with recovery technology provider Hyperice to develop tech-enabled boots called the Hyperboot.

The aim of the collaboration is to develop wearable technology for the athlete to enhance their performance and recovery.These battery-powered high-top shoes are designed to benefit both warm-up and recovery. The boots offer heat and dynamic air-compression massage, which can be adjusted up to three levels just by pressing a button on them.

“The Hyperboot helps get the body ready for activity, whether you're playing for a title or you're on your feet a lot at work.” – Tobie Hatfield, senior director of Nike Athlete InnovationThis partnership is also working on a versatile vest that uses thermoelectric coolers to deliver instant heating and cooling, allowing the athletes to target the environment that they can’t control. The sensors of the thermal modules in the vest autonomously monitor and maintain body temperature.

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA +4.3%) (function () { var script = document.createElement('script'); script.

src = 'https://s3.tradingview.com/external-embedding/embed-widget-advanced-chart.

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stringify({ 'autosize': true, 'width': '100%', 'height': '440', 'symbol': 'NASDAQ:NVDA', 'range': 'YTD', 'timezone': 'Etc/UTC', 'theme': 'light', 'style': '3', 'locale': 'en', 'hide_top_toolbar': false, 'hide_legend': true, 'allow_symbol_change': false, 'save_image': false, 'calendar': false, 'hide_volume': true, 'withdateranges': true, 'support_host': 'https://www.tradingview.com' }); document.

currentScript.parentNode.insertBefore(script, document.

currentScript); })(); With a market cap of $84.5 billion, Nike shares are currently trading at $57.23, down 24.

5% YTD. It has an EPS (TTM) of 3.01, a P/E (TTM) of 19.

04, and an ROE (TTM) of 31.93%. Nike also pays a dividend yield of 2.

80%.As for company financials, in March 2025, Nike reported results for the third quarter that ended February 28, 2025, during which it had $11.3 billion in revenue, a decline of 9% from the previous year while gross margin decreased to 41.

5%, and diluted earnings per share came in at $0.54, which was a decrease of 30%.Cash and equivalents and short-term investments at the end of the quarter were $10.

4 billion, while Nike returned $1.1 billion to shareholders through $594 million in dividends and $499 million in share repurchases.“What's encouraging is NIKE made an impact this quarter, leading with sport through athlete storytelling, performance products, and big sport moments.

The operating environment is dynamic, but what matters most for NIKE is serving athletes with new product innovation and re-igniting brand momentum through sport.”– CEO Elliott HillFor the fourth quarter, the company is forecasting a steeper decline than expected. Interestingly, this year, Nike ran its first Super Bowl ad in close to three decades.

The company is currently facing the threat of President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which affect its supply chain, particularly in Vietnam, Indonesia, and China.Click here to learn about the next wave of wearables.Conclusion With the world’s population rapidly aging, maintaining physical function and independence becomes extremely important to their overall well-being.

Here, monitoring gait is key to providing a cost-effective way to assess various age-related conditions affecting the neurological system and offering valuable insights into the health and potential mobility limitations of older generations. Gait analysis also offers a promising early diagnostic tool to detect abnormalities before they become chronic or debilitating.The latest self-powered system with its real-time gait analysis showcases huge potential in preventive health.

Its integration with AI and smartphone apps could further make posture correction, injury prevention, and even fall detection accessible to the masses, promoting a healthier population and future!Studies Referenced:1. Wang, Q., Guan, H.

, Wang, C., Lei, P., Sheng, H.

, Bi, H., Hu, J., Guo, C.

, Mao, Y., Yuan, J., Shao, M.

, Jin, Z., Li, J., & Lan, W.

(2025). A wireless, self-powered smart insole for gait monitoring and recognition via nonlinear synergistic pressure sensing. Science Advances, 11(16).

https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.

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