In-Shoe Shear Stress Sensor For Diabetic Patient

描述（由申请人提供）：与糖尿病相关的下肢并发症包括可导致感染和随后截肢的足底溃疡的发展。虽然从测力板分析可知，地面反作用力有内侧/外侧和前/后剪切分量，但对日常活动中该力的实际分布知之甚少，也不了解剪切在引起足底溃疡中的作用。此外，以前没有获得这些数据的一个关键原因是缺乏经过验证的、广泛使用的、市售的剪切传感器，部分原因是与剪切测量相关的各种技术问题。该研究计划旨在开发，制造和实施基于聚合物的布拉格光栅传感器阵列，该传感器阵列将用于研究与糖尿病患者相关的足底压力和剪切力变化。为了显著增加复用传感器的数量，将使用时域复用（TDM）和波分复用（WDM）技术的混合。利用激光写入、激光全息术和电子束写入系统的简单微加工技术将允许快速构造复杂的光栅和波导系统。该系统的唯一性在于其单输入单输出配置。这项研究的另一个好处是，有可能对剪切应力对溃疡发展的影响进行长期的前瞻性研究。传感器的进一步应用超出了测量足底压力和剪切力。可穿戴（鞋内）或嵌入式（主动鞋或假肢）传感器可以从该传感器导出。其他传感器也可以结合到聚合物基片材中以创建多参数传感器系统。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Lower limb complications associated with diabetes include the development of plantar ulcers that can lead to infection and subsequent amputation. While it is known from force plate analyses that there are medial/lateral and anterior/posterior shear components of the ground reaction force, there is little known about the actual distribution of this force during daily activities, nor about the role that shear plays in causing plantar ulceration. Furthermore, one critical reason why these data have not been obtained previously is the lack of a validated, widely used, commercially available shear sensor, in part because of the various technical issues associated with shear measurement. The research proposal is aimed at developing, fabricating and implementing a polymer based Bragg grating sensor array that will be used in study plantar pressure and shear changes associated with diabetic patients. In order to significantly increase the number of multiplexed sensors, a hybrid of time domain multiplexing (TDM) and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) techniques will be used. A simple micro-fabrication technique utilizing laser writing, laser holography and electron beam writing system will allow a rapid construction of complex optical gratings and waveguide system. Uniqueness of the system is in its single input and single output configuration. One other benefit of this research is the possibility of performing a long term prospective study of the effect of shear stress on ulcer development. The further application of sensor goes beyond measuring plantar pressure and shear. A wearable (in-shoe) or embedded (active shoe, or prosthesis) sensor can be derived from this sensor. Other sensors can also be incorporated into the polymer-based sheet to create a multi-parameter sensor system.