Development and Validation of a Subject-Specific Coupled Model for Foot and Sports Shoe Complex: A Pilot Computational Study

Abstract

Nowadays, footwear serves an essential role in improving athletic performance and decreasing the risk of unexpected injuries in sports games. Finite element (FE) modeling is a powerful tool to reveal the biomechanical interactions between foot and footwear, and establishing a coupled foot-shoe model is the prerequisite. The purpose of this pilot study was to develop and validate a 3D FE coupled model of the foot and sports shoe complex during balanced standing. All major foot and shoe structures were constructed based on the participant’s medical CT images, and 3D gait analysis was conducted to define the loading and boundary conditions. Sensitivity analysis was applied to determine the optimum material property for shoe sole. Both the plantar and shoe sole areas were further divided into four regions for model validation, and the Bland–Altman method was used for consistency analysis between methods. The simulated peak plantar and sole pressure distribution showed good consistency with experimental pressure data, and the prediction errors were all less than 10% during balanced standing with only two exceptions (medial and lateral forefoot regions). Meanwhile, the Bland–Altman analysis demonstrated a good agreement between the two approaches. The sensitivity analysis suggested that shoe sole with Young’s modulus of 2.739 MPa presented the greatest consistency with the measured data in our scenario. The established model could be used for investing the complex biomechanical interactions between the foot and sports shoe and optimizing footwear design, after it has been fully validated in the subsequent works under different conditions.

Effects of heel apex position, apex angle and rocker radius on plantar pressure in the heel region

“…Although we focused in our study on PP relief of different heel rocker shoe designs, through in-shoe pressure measurement in persons with DM and LOPS, the pressure measurement technology does not provide in-depth information on mechanical changes such as strain distribution and internal stress of the foot structure and joint contact pressure. This information can be provided through computational modelling such as finite element modelling (FEM), which has been also used in footwear optimization intended to increase athletic performance and decrease the risk of sport related injuries [ 25 , 26 ]. Future studies can focus on FEM for an in-depth understanding of the footwear optimization and footwear biomechanics.…”

Cushioning mechanism of the metatarsals during landing for the skateboarding ollie maneuver

“…( Zhang et al, 2007 ; Song et al, 2022b ). In addition, the FE method can be used to speed up the design cycle while reducing research and development costs in the design of sports equipment, such as carbon-fiber plates ( Song et al, 2023 ), running shoes ( Song et al, 2022a ), midsoles ( Zhu et al, 2023 ), and insoles ( Shi et al, 2022 ).…”

Assessment of Foot and Ankle Edema With a 3D Portable Scanner

“…Once again, the medical field could improve the management of footwear for different foot morphotypes or conditions such as Cavo varus feet, progressive collapsing foot deformity or hallux valgus [14,15,16,17]. Sports footwear enhancement can also benefit from foot and ankle volume measurements with two goals: to decrease the incidence of injury and to improve sports performance [18,19].…”