Comments and Reply to: Foot Plantar Pressure Measurement System: A Review. Sensors 2012, 12, 9884-9912

Comments

We would like to comment on a recent review article published in Sensors by Razak et al. [1]. The authors provided a review of plantar pressure measurement systems which included the discussion of the recently developed WalkinSense^® system. While the authors correctly identified that our group completed research using this system [2], they have inaccurately reported the manufacturer of the system and our research findings.

The authors stated that this system was developed by our group, however, as stated in our article [2], this system was developed by Tomorrow Options Microelectronics (Sheffield, UK). Additionally they stated inaccurately that the WalkinSense^® system is similar to the F-Scan^® (Tekscan, Boston, MA, USA) hardware and software and that our research concluded that WalkinSense^® had a better repeatability when compared to other commercially available systems. Our research [2] clearly concluded that the WalkinSense^® system was found to be as repeatable as the F-Scan^® system.

There are several papers which outline the existing technologies [3], the protocols used for data collection [4,5] and the repeatability of existing systems [6]. Whilst this paper [1], is mainly intended for a different audience when compared to clinical papers, it is very important that previously published information is carefully considered, critically reviewed and succinctly presented in a review paper.

We felt compelled to write this note so that: (1) it is not misinterpreted that we developed this system and (2) our research findings are not inaccurately reported.

Nachiappan Chockalingam

Aoife Healy

Roozbeh Naemi

Philip Burgess-Walker

References

1. Razak, A.; Zayegh, A.; Begg, R.K.; Wahab, Y. Foot Plantar Pressure Measurement System: A Review. Sensors 2012, 12, 9884–9912. [Google Scholar]
2. Healy, A.; Burgess-Walker, P.; Naemi, R.; Chockalingam, N. Repeatability of WalkinSense^® in Shoe Pressure Measurement System: A Preliminary study. The Foot 2012, 22, 35–39. [Google Scholar]
3. Rosenbaum, D.; Becker, H.P. Review Article: Plantar Pressure Distribution Measurements. Technical Background and Clinical Applications. Foot Ankle Surg. 1997, 3, 1–14. [Google Scholar]
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5. McPoil, T.G.; Cornwall, M.W.; Dupuis, L.; Cornwell, M. Variability of Plantar Pressure Data. A Comparison of the Two-Step and Midgait Methods. J. Am. Podiatr. Med. Assoc. 1999, 89, 495–501. [Google Scholar]
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