Comprehensive Understanding of Foot Development in Children Using Capacitive Textile Sensors

Knowledge of foot growth can provide information on the occurrence of children’s growth spurts and an indication of the time to buy new shoes. Podiatrists still do not have enough evidence as to whether footwear influences the structural development of the feet and associated locomotor behaviours. Parents are only willing to buy an inexpensive brand, because children’s shoes are deemed expendable due to their rapid foot growth. Consumers are not fully aware of footwear literacy; thus, views of consumers on children’s shoes are left unchallenged. This study aims to embed knitted smart textile sensors in children’s shoes to sense the growth and development of a child’s feet—specifically foot length. Two prototype configurations were evaluated on 30 children, who each inserted their feet for ten seconds inside the instrumented shoes. Capacitance readings were related to the proximity of their toes to the sensor and validated against foot length and shoe size. A linear regression model of capacitance readings and foot length was developed. This regression model was found to be statistically significant (p-value = 0.01, standard error = 0.08). Results of this study indicate that knitted textile sensors can be implemented inside shoes to get a comprehensive understanding of foot development in children.