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The human foot is very complex, and the development of digital models is still at its infancy. Different researches are being carried out and the results are presented in a simplified form. Furthermore, in many cases, research results from different groups vary widely because of different data samples, gender, age, etc. This chapter provides some sample data such as anthropometric data, 3D data and representation, MRI scan data, CAT scan data, and thermal data. Foot data is very important to students, researchers, and practitioners as it can enable statistical analysis, development of analysis method, and the design and development of better fitting footwear to improve foot health.

Background: Conservative treatment, Ponseti method, has been considered as a standard method to correct the clubfoot deformity among Orthopedic society. Although the result of conservative methods have been reported with higher success rates than surgical methods, many more problems have been reported due to improper casting, casting pressure or bracing discomfort. Nowadays, infrared thermography (IRT) is widely used as a diagnostic tool to assess musculoskeletal disorders or injuries by detecting temperature abnormalities. Similarly, the foot skin temperature evaluation can be added along with the current subjective evaluation to predict if there is any casting pressure, excessive manipulation, or overcorrections of the foot, and other bracing pressure-related complications.Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to explore the foot skin temperature changes before and after using of manipulation and weekly castings.Methods: This is an explorative study design. Infrared Thermography (IRT), E33 FLIR thermal imaging camera model, was used to collect the thermal images of the clubfoot before and after casting intervention. A total of 120 thermal images (Medial region of the foot–24, Lateral side of the foot–24, Dorsal side of the foot−24, Plantar side of the foot−24, and Heel area of the foot–24) were collected from the selected regions of the clubfoot.Results: The results of univariate statistical analysis showed that significant temperature changes in some regions of the foot after casting, especially, at the 2nd (M = 32.05°C, SD = 0.77, p = 0.05), 3rd (M = 31.61, SD = 1.11; 95% CI: 31.27–31.96; p = 0.00), and 6th week of evaluation on the lateral side of the foot (M = 31.15°C, SD = 1.59; 95% CI: 30.75–31.54, p = 0.000). There was no significant temperature changes throughout the weekly casting in the medial side of the foot. In the heel side of the foot, significant temperature changes were noticed after the third and fourth weeks of casting.Conclusion: This study found that a decreased foot skin temperature on the dorsal and lateral side of the foot at the 6th week of thermography evaluation. The finding of this study suggest that the infrared thermography (IRT) might be useful as an adjunct assessment tool to evaluate the thermophysiological changes, which can be used to predict the complications caused by improper casting, over manipulative or stretching and casting-pressure related complications.

Congenital talipes equinovarus is a musculoskeletal pediatric foot deformity, which is characterized by midfoot cavus, forefoot adductus, hindfoot varus and equinus (CAVE). A standardized objective assessment is essential to measure the severity of the clubfoot. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a three-dimensional assessment method to evaluate the clubfoot severity.

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a multifactorial, three-dimensional deformity of the spine and trunk. School scoliosis screening (SSS) is recommended by researchers as a means of early detection of AIS to prevent its progression in school-aged children. The traditional screening technique for AIS is the forward bending test because it is simple, non-invasive and inexpensive. Other tests, such as the use of Moiré topography, have reduced the high false referral rates. The use of infrared (IR) thermography for screening purposes based on the findings of previous studies on the asymmetrical paraspinal muscle activity of scoliotic patients compared with non-scoliotic subjects was explored in this study. IR thermography is performed with an IR camera to determine the temperature differences in paraspinal muscle activity. A statistical analysis showed that scoliotic subjects demonstrate a statistically significant difference between the left and right sides of the regions of interest. This difference could be due to the higher IR emission of the convex side of the observed area, thereby creating a higher temperature distribution. The findings of this study suggest the feasibility of incorporating IR thermography as part of SSS. However, future studies could also consider a larger sample of both non-scoliotic and scoliotic subjects to further validate the findings.

© 2016 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved. Clubfoot, known as congenital talipes equinovarus, is one of the complex paediatric foot deformity with the incidence of 1 in every 1000 live births. It consists of four complex foot abnormalities such as forefoot adductus, midfoot cavus, and hindfoot varus and ankle equinus. There are a number of surgical techniques (soft tissue releases, arthrodesis) used to correct clubfoot. However currently the conservative management (manipulation, serial casting, and braces) of clubfoot is considered as the best choice and it is widely accepted among orthopaedists. Clubfoot treated with surgical techniques might suffer various complications such as soft tissues contractures, neurovascular complications, infections, and shortening of the limbs. Although conservative method is generally considered as an effective method, it is still challenging to cure clubfoot in advance stages. Also, the classification of the initial severity of clubfoot is essential to evaluate the outcome of the treatment. In this review, the aim is to review the different types of conservative method and the assessment of clubfoot severity.

Most anthropometric studies generally relate to one chosen population. We wanted to assess the variations among different age groups to get a better understanding of the changes to foot shape so that footwear can accommodate these changes satisfactorily. Footwear are not differentiated between adults and elderly, even though there are footwear for children primarily because of smaller feet. Three “age groups” of males and females were scanned at different times. The heel centerline was used to register each scan. Using predetermined algorithms, the digital data were processed to obtain 49 anthropometric variables that included various length, width, girth, and flare measures. The youngest group comprised 40 female children of mean age 8.1 yrs (standard deviation [SD] = 1.48 yrs), 40 males of mean age 8.4 yrs (SD = 1.8 yrs), 40 adult females of mean age 24 yrs (SD = 3.97 yrs), 40 adult males of mean age 21.7 yrs (SD = 2.90 yrs), 40 elderly females of mean 73.3 yrs (SD = 6.8 yrs), and 40 elderly males of mean age 75 yrs (SD = 7.58 yrs). No significant differences were found between left and right foot lengths, but there were significant differences in widths, girths, and heights. Allometric equations were developed to explain the variations over the various age ranges. The findings can help understand the growth of feet and the proper fitting, especially for the elderly.

High-heeled shoes are associated with instability and a high risk of fall, fracture, and ankle sprain. This study investigated the effects of heel base size (HBS) on walking stability under different walking speeds and slope angles. The trajectory of the center of pressure (COP), maximal peak pressure, pressure time integral, contact area, and perceived stability were analyzed. The results revealed that a small HBS increased the COP deviations, shifting the COP more medially at the beginning of the gait cycle. The slope angle mainly affected the COP in the anteroposterior direction. An increased slope angle shifted the COP posterior and caused greater pressure and a larger contact area in the midfoot and rearfoot regions, which can provide more support. Subjective measures on perceived stability were consistent with objective measures. The results suggested that high-heeled shoes with a small HBS did not provide stable plantar support, particularly on a small slope angle. The changes in the COP and pressure pattern caused by a small HBS might increase joint torque and muscle activity and induce lower limb problems.

Background: Congenital talipes equinovarus (CTEV) or clubfoot is a common pediatric congenital foot deformity that occurs 1 in 1,000 live births. Clubfoot is characterized by four types of foot deformities: hindfoot equinus; midfoot cavus; forefoot adductus; and hindfoot varus. A structured assessment method for clubfoot is essential for quantifying the initial severity of clubfoot deformity and recording the progress of clubfoot intervention. Aim: This study aims to develop a three-dimensional (3D) assessment method to evaluate the initial severity of the clubfoot and monitor the structural changes of the clubfoot after each casting intervention. In addition, this study explores the relationship between the thermophysiological changes in the clubfoot at each stage of the casting intervention and in the normal foot. Methods: In this study, a total of 10 clubfoot children who are

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018. The skin is the major organ of integumentary system of human body and helps to maintain the body temperature, excretes the waste through sweating, protects deepest structures of the human body, and prevent from various problems such as water loss, infection. However, excessive sweating leads to infection in human body especially in the foot such as dermatophyte infection. This study aimed to investigate the foot skin temperature and humidity after wearing socks with shoes. It is a pre-post experimental design study. Ten subjects were selected for this study by convenience sampling methods. In this experiments, humidity and temperature, infrared images were recorded at baseline and post experiment. For this experiment, Infrared camera, HC 520 IN/OUT Temperature/ humidity, and the thermometer were used as outcome measurement and the total duration of pre and post-session consists of 3 h. The results revealed that the foot skin temperature was slightly increased in the left foot: 97.02 (mn), 2.51 (SD). Thus, there was no difference observed in temperature changes. However, humidity level increased in socks with shoes experiment in the post-experiment results. At the same time, we observed in the infrared thermal image analysis that there were physiological changes and post-test temperature changes on the skin of foot. In conclusion, this study revealed that socks with shoes are altered the humidity and foot skin temperature.

© 2017 Ganesan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Background: Congenital talipes equinovarus (CTEV), also known as clubfoot, is common congenital orthopedic foot deformity in children characterized by four components of foot deformities: hindfoot equinus, hindfoot varus, midfoot cavus, and forefoot adduction. Although a number of conservative and surgical methods have been proposed to correct the clubfoot deformity, the relapses of the clubfoot are not uncommon. Several previous literatures discussed about the technical details of Ponseti method, adherence of Ponseti protocol among walking age or older children. However there is a necessity to investigate the relapse pattern, compliance of bracing, number of casts used in treatment and the percentages of surgical referral under two years of age for clear understanding and better practice to achieve successful outcome without or reduce relapse. Therefore this study aims to review the current evidence of Ponseti method (manipulation, casting, percutaneous Achilles tenotomy, and bracing) in the management of clubfoot under two years of age. Materials and methods: Articles were searched from 2000 to 2015, in the following databases to identify the effectiveness of Ponseti method treatment for clubfoot: Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINHAL), PubMed, and Scopus. The database searches were limited to articles published in English, and articles were focused on the effectiveness of Ponseti method on children with less than 2 years of age. Results: Of the outcome of 1095 articles from four electronic databases, twelve articles were included in the review. Pirani scoring system, Dimeglio scoring system, measuring the range of motion and rate of relapses were used as outcome measures. Conclusions: In conclusion, all reviewed, 12 articles reported that Ponseti method is a very effective method to correct the clubfoot deformities. However, we noticed that relapses occur in nine studies, which is due to the non-adherence of bracing regime and other factors such as low income and social economic status.

Background Few studies have investigated silent versus speaking situations while wearing various types of facemasks over a period of time. Objective The main objective of this study is the evaluation of temperature changes with time and the thermal comfort of facemasks under different verbal output conditions. Methods A two-way within-subject experiment was conducted to find the effects of facemask types and verbal output conditions. The infrared thermographic technology was used to record the video during the experiment. A subjective questionnaire was applied to measure the perception ratings of thermal discomfort. Results Wearing a facemask could result in a higher face temperature compared to the condition in which a facemask was not worn. The N95 mask created the highest temperature value in the cheeks and nose/mouth regions. The speaking condition did not present significant difference on face temperature compared to the silent condition. Participants tended to provide higher subjective ratings of perceived humidity, heat, breathing difficulty and overall discomfort while wearing facemasks, especially while wearing the N95 mask and during the speaking conditions. Conclusions Facial temperature distribution demonstrated various trends with time under different conditions. Facemask types had significant effects on facial temperature and perceived thermal comfort.

In spite of ill-effects of high heel shoes, they are widely used for women. Hence, it is essential to understand the load transfer biomechanics in order to design better fit and comfortable shoes. In this study, both experimental measurement and finite element analysis were used to evaluate the biomechanical effects of heel height on foot load transfer. A controlled experiment was conducted using custom-designed platforms. Under different weight-bearing conditions, peak plantar pressure, contact area and center of pressure were analyzed. A three-dimensional finite element foot model was used to simulate the high-heel support and to predict the internal stress distributions and deformations for different heel heights. Results from both experiment and model indicated that heel elevations had significant effects on all variables. When heel elevation increased, the center of pressure shifted from the midfoot region to the forefoot region, the contact area was reduced by 26% from 0 to 10.2 cm heel and the internal stress of foot bones increased. Prediction results also showed that the strain and total tension force of plantar fascia was minimum at 5.1 cm heel condition. This study helps to better understand the biomechanical behavior of foot, and to provide better suggestions for design parameters of high heeled shoes.

Customization and e-commerce are the new trends in footwear manufacturing and marketing. These methods of business have been promoting the increasing importance of footwear fit and comfort in addition to footwear fashion and style. Some methodologies have been established to quantify footwear fit, however much is needed to make the fit assessment usable. This paper presents a method for the error calculation between the foot and the shoe-last based on the modification of previous research. The proposed technique is very useful for the prediction of footwear fit related comfort. The first step in this method is the selection of a shoe-last based on the foot anthropometric data. The selected shoe-last was then converted to shoe shape by using algorithms proposed in this paper. For ease of interpretation, the errors between the foot and the deformed shoe-last were presented as mean, standard deviation and error mapping plots. The proposed method seems to be promising as it provides an improved an effective a...

Footwear fitting and comfort is an important customer need which involves multiple factors. It includes both objective measurements and subjective perceptions, and can be influenced by shoe materials, weight and styles, foot shape, inside shoe climate, even colour and fashion. However, the influences of other design factors are still not clear. This research investigated the relationship between footwear design factors and footwear fitting and comfort. Two-level fractional factorial design analysis was used to evaluate the effects and find the vital factors. The results indicated that heel height has relatively significant influences on footwear comfort. High topline, low heel height, soft material, round toe, open toe, open heel and thin platform can provide better fitting and comfort.

Accurate 3D digital foot model is extremely useful in shoe or orthotics design and other medical situations such as podiatric therapy. In view of the fact that most of the 3D data-acquisition devices on the market are either expensive though high accuracy (e.g., high-end laser scanner), or with poor maneuverability and efficiency (e.g., image-based stereography), or deficient portability (e.g., large-size scanning machine or types requiring support frame), we propose a new method for human foot scanning in this paper. Microsoft Kinect sensor was adopted as the key device in this approach and proved a smart and efficient scanner in 3D foot data acquisition according to a detailed comparison with other scanners in terms of scan time, cost, operability and portability. Accuracy check of the sphere and foot scanning results also demonstrates decent precision of the proposed scanning system.

It is widely accepted that there is no single test available which has the capacity to measure all aspects of balance performance. Many footwear intervention studies have used a package of balance assessment tools to explore the effects of shoes or insoles on postural stability. Similarly, there appears to be no single stability outcome measure that is sufficiently robust or sensitive to represent overall static or dynamic balance performance. This chapter provides an overview of postural stability assessment techniques and outcome measures commonly used in previous studies exploring the effects of footwear and shoe insole design on static or dynamic balance control; however, this list is not exhaustive. The chapter concludes presenting a selection of current literature reporting the effect of footwear interventions on postural stability in chronic conditions including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and osteoarthritis. The summary is intended to highlight the relevance of postural stability assessment and footwear in clinical practice.