Method and apparatus for analysis of gait and to provide haptic and visual corrective feedback

A gait and balance system designed to measure motion indicative of a selected user's gait and balance, comprising:

• (a) an insole for use with a selected user's foot and shaped to be inserted into foot apparel worn by the selected user, wherein the insole comprises:
• (1) a lower insole portion;
• (2) an upper insole portion;
• and
• (3) a motion processing and feedback subsystem positioned proximate to and between the lower insole portion and the upper insole portion, and wherein the motion processing and feedback subsystem comprises:
• (A) a motion processing device, comprising:
• 1) A 3-axis gyroscope generating 3-axis x, y and z orientation vectors;
• 2) A 3-axis accelerometer generating 3-axis x, y and z gravity vectors;
• 3) A 3-axis magnetometer generating 3-axis x, y and z magnetic field vectors;
• and
• 4) an atmospheric pressure sensor generating atmospheric pressure sensor data;
• wherein the 3-axis orientation vectors, the 3-axis x, y and z gravity vectors, the 3-axis magnetic field vectors and the atmospheric pressure sensor data collectively comprise motion data generated by the motion processing device;
• (B) a plurality of force pressure sensors placed under the selected user's feet generating force pressure data;
• (C) a haptic feedback actuator;
• (D) a wireless communication input/output device;
• (E) a microprocessor;
• wherein the motion processing device, the plurality of force pressure sensors and the haptic feedback actuator communicate with the microprocessor using a communications interface;
• and
• (F) a memory storage device capable of storing software programs and related data for use by the microprocessor;
• (b) a smart phone that executes a monitoring software application that monitors the selected user's activity, wherein the monitoring software application processes the motion data and the force pressure data to obtain a distribution of ground reaction forces (GRF) at the selected user's feet thereby determining a location of a center of pressure (COP), wherein the COP comprises a weighted average of the force pressure data, and wherein the smart phone determines GPS timing and coordinate information and synchronizes the GPS timing and coordinate information with the motion and force pressure data thereby generating GPS synchronized motion and force pressure data, and wherein the smart phone and the monitoring software application communicates with the motion processing and feedback subsystem, via the wireless communication input/output device;
• and
• (c) a cloud-based server;
• wherein the cloud-based server processes the GPS synchronized motion and force pressure data and generates foot motion and force distribution information related to the selected user;
• and wherein the gait and balance system determines a gait of the selected user based upon a stance phase and a swing phase of a gait cycle for the selected user, and wherein the stance phase comprises a plurality of segments, and wherein each segment of the stance phase and the swing phase is determined by continuously monitoring the location of the COP and the magnitude of the GRF present at the COP location and the distribution of the GRF between the selected user's left and right foot in relation to the 3-axis orientation, gravity and magnetic field vectors.