M-Group – KU Leuven – Brugge
Spoorwegstraat 12
8200 Brugge
België
https://iiw.kuleuven.be/onderzoek/m-group
m-group@kuleuven.be

Contact
Hans Hallez – hans.hallez@kuleuven.be

Category
ICT

Context

Many healthcare applications require a pressure sensor to sense the person’s movement, posture or intention. Examples of those sensors are the sensors needed to detect the long-term fixed position in a mattress to prevent ulcers or wounds, and sensors incorporated in a smart foot insole to measure the pressure distribution during walking or sports.

For the next-gen foot insole for diabetic patients we need to design energy-efficient electronics which reads a variety of sensors, consisting of pressure sensors, accelerometer and a temperature sensor. This system is controlled by an energy-efficient microcontroller which is in stand-by mode when the foot insole is not used and is woken up by an trigger from the accelerometer when the foot insole is used during walking. Furthermore, the system should be able to transmit the sensor data to a smartphone app.

Objectives

The overall goal is to design a concept consisting of electonics and software which can be used in a foot insole for diabetic patients. Therefore, the student needs to investigate which components could be used with terms of energy efficient sensor readout and data transfer.

  • Togheter with the supervisor, the student will make a list of requirements for the design.
  • The student will perform a literature search on existing foot insoles and on recent components which could be of potential use for the design.
  • The student will make a design and iterate this with the supervisor.
  • Based on the complexity of the design, we will outsource the manufacturing of the design by a third parties.
  • The student programs the design with embedded software to read sensor data.
  • The student will perform a study of the power consumption and will compare this with theoretical values obtained from the data sheets.