Elite to high street footwear: the role of anthropometric data

Rapid manufacturing has been revolutionary allowing the production of personalised design components for products like footwear to the final customer. Foot shape plays an important role in the development of injuries in runners, therefore any footwear should take into account an individuals mass, foot shape and other measures to provide unique support, balance, and comfort to the wearer. Despite the obvious potential in footwear products, it is not known how best to measure feet in this context nor even whether a personalised shoe can positively affect comfort, performance and prevent risk from injury. A challenge for anthropometry is the collection of detailed anthropometric measurements of the foot which can then be used to specify the design of personalised footwear. A pilot study is being conducted to assess the feasibility of personalising the design of insoles for running shoes. Rear striker, recreational runners (n=6) were selected to take part in the study. They were 18-64 years old, had no reported musculoskeletal pain or injury in the last 12 months. If they had any known lower limb abnormality they were excluded from the study. The plantar surface of the feet were scanned and detailed anthropometric measurements taken. Using these data insoles for a running shoe were rapid manufactured for comparison with the standard running shoe. Participants then returned to the laboratory to be fitted with a running shoe under two experimental conditions (personalised and standard footwear). For each experimental condition, the footwear was evaluated in terms of comfort (visual analogue scales), performance (running economy on a treadmill) and injury risk (knee and ankle torque, ground reaction force and plantar pressure distribution). This paper will present and discuss the detailed methodology for this research.