A new approach to running style analysis using a pressure sensitive insole device

The popularity of running as a recreational activity has escalated over the last few decades, and with it the number of running-related injuries (RRIs). These injuries are most often of an overuse nature commonly affecting the back and lower limbs.
Interest in biomechanical analyses and the relation between biomechanical variables and injury occurrence has grown among researchers. How biomechanics and epidemiology can be combined to better understand RRI risk factors is a new concept and introduced as part of this thesis. Most commonly used biomechanical measurement techniques to date are force platforms and 3D motion analysis systems to measure the kinetics and kinematics, respectively. Ground reaction force, vertical loading rate, rearfoot eversion, pronation and pronation velocity are examples of parameters recorded at the foot which are measured regularly in biomechanics of running research. Pressure measurement devices have also featured in biomechanical studies on running, providing data on the plantar pressure magnitudes and locations.
This thesis puts forward a pressure-sensitive insole device, the Runalyser, as a research tool capable of measuring strike index (SI - the point of contact on the foot sole with the ground expressed as a percentage of total sole length) and temporal parameters.