Towards geometry and pressure driven foot orthotics

Foot pain and foot-related disability is very common in the overall population. Population-based studies indicate that 24% of people aged over 45 years report frequent foot pain with two-thirds of these people reporting at least moderate disability in an aspect of daily life. Foot pain has a detrimental impact on health-related quality of life and is responsible for a significant proportion of primary care consultations and surgical interventions. When managing patients with symptomatic feet, conservative treatment should be considered before surgical interventions. Conservative management mainly focuses on externally applied interventions such as foot orthotics, taping or supportive footwear. One of the major therapeutic targets of foot orthotics is the redistribution of the plantar pressure underneath the human foot. The pressure underneath a human foot can be measured with a technique called pedobarography, using either insole-based or platform-based systems. Pedobarographic measurements quantify the vertical load that the plantar foot experiences when walking barefoot or shod, making it possible to identify any functional abnormalities in the dynamic foot’s structure and function. Reductions in peak pressure were reported when using this approach . Although there are data available relating to the geometry and pressure-driven foot orthotics, to the best of our knowledge the literature lacks integrated approaches which embraces geometry and pressure driven foot orthotic workflows. As a result, the literature lacks fundamental insight into the dosage -response relationship in patients with different clinical symptoms. In this Phd project we aim at developping and testing foot orthotics with pressure-driven, shape-adaptable characteristics created within a digital workflow using additive manufacturing techniques.