Footprint analysis using a low cost photo-podoscope

Abstract

Footprint analysis is usually performed using a rudimentary process or traditional podoscope. The footprint evaluation is performed without incorporation of the measured data within the patient medical record. In this work, the footprint analysis is performed using a photo-podoscope connected to a personal computer where image processing techniques allow accurate estimation of clinical indexes, as well as incorporation of demographic and clinical data within patient medical record, that can be readily available through Internet. Validation of the proposed equipment is performed using a group of elderly people and considering as the ground truth the traditional assessment of footprint indexes by expert medical staff. Results show errors for the estimation of the Hernandez-Corvo index as low as 5.86% in a group of 18 elderly people.