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Dear all,
our human sensorimotor control lab is planning to buy a new device to measure foot-ground (or more generally: body-environment) contact patterns. We already have a "single" force plate (Kistler) but would like to acquire more detailed information. Two options have come up so far:
- a "dual" force plate (e.g., Dual-Top AccuSway, by AMTI)
- pressure sensor arrays (e.g, MatScan, by TekScan)
Most of our applications will be during quiet standing, or standing/sitting combined with another activity (manual reaching, visual orienting, standing up, sitting down, initiating gait). We are working on lifespan developmental differences/changes (early development, aging, learning, expertise).
Is it correct to say that most basic research is done using force plates, while many “practitioners” (orthopedists, physiotherapists) work with pressure mats? I wonder what are the relative advantages and whether the potential of analyzing posture in terms of foot contact distributions might be underexplored in current human movement science.
Pros and Cons we considered so far:
+ force plate: may be more robust (longer lifetime, less external noise?)
+ force plate: may be more accurate in determining the CoP
+ force plate: allows to measure additional biomechanical parameters (e.g., horizontal forces)
+ pressure mat: more rich information about actual pressure distribution
+ pressure mat: could maybe be put on top of a single force plate, to combine both contact and “biomechanical” information
Prices for the two systems seem to be comparable.
I’d be grateful for any advice. I’d also be interested in relevant scientific publications using pressure mats (say, how acquiring pressure distribution can be used to say something about postural control mechanisms, and how this might complement research using force plates).
Many thanks in advance,
Julius Verrel
Center for Lifespan Psychology
MPI for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
our human sensorimotor control lab is planning to buy a new device to measure foot-ground (or more generally: body-environment) contact patterns. We already have a "single" force plate (Kistler) but would like to acquire more detailed information. Two options have come up so far:
- a "dual" force plate (e.g., Dual-Top AccuSway, by AMTI)
- pressure sensor arrays (e.g, MatScan, by TekScan)
Most of our applications will be during quiet standing, or standing/sitting combined with another activity (manual reaching, visual orienting, standing up, sitting down, initiating gait). We are working on lifespan developmental differences/changes (early development, aging, learning, expertise).
Is it correct to say that most basic research is done using force plates, while many “practitioners” (orthopedists, physiotherapists) work with pressure mats? I wonder what are the relative advantages and whether the potential of analyzing posture in terms of foot contact distributions might be underexplored in current human movement science.
Pros and Cons we considered so far:
+ force plate: may be more robust (longer lifetime, less external noise?)
+ force plate: may be more accurate in determining the CoP
+ force plate: allows to measure additional biomechanical parameters (e.g., horizontal forces)
+ pressure mat: more rich information about actual pressure distribution
+ pressure mat: could maybe be put on top of a single force plate, to combine both contact and “biomechanical” information
Prices for the two systems seem to be comparable.
I’d be grateful for any advice. I’d also be interested in relevant scientific publications using pressure mats (say, how acquiring pressure distribution can be used to say something about postural control mechanisms, and how this might complement research using force plates).
Many thanks in advance,
Julius Verrel
Center for Lifespan Psychology
MPI for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
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