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Understanding dynamic foot is essential for foot health, footwear design and construction. This study was designed to investigate foot deformation during walking. A pilot experiment using motion capture system was conducted to record the landmark motion. The data showed the foot motion including landmark trajectories and the foot changes with time. In addition, the relative landmark position was further analyzed. The result showed the changes of foot landmarks. Application of this study will be useful for modeling dynamic foot shape, foot evaluation and footwear design.

© 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.

With the rapid development of functional product design, the digital human body applied to design and manufacturing need be improved with more information of the human body. Functional and smart clothing has been a popular trend among consumers. The human model or mannequin may not fully satisfied the increasing demands of anatomical and physiologic messages from the human body in a visual and accurate way. As one of the most important functions of clothing, thermal comfort plays a vital role in many functional clothing design. In this pilot study, a thermal model was introduced to lay a foundation for functional thermal clothing development. A step by step method was commentated to draw a map for functional model development. This model was constructed by geometric human model from 3D scanning data and 2D thermograms from IR camera. The skin temperature data of subject was transferred to exact 3D human body, the temperature distribution and features can be clarified easily for design and manufact...

We investigated a simple way of incorporating TiO 2 nano particle with reactive vinyl sulphone class dyeing of cotton. It has been observed that there is significant and lasting improvement in strength, wear resistance, stiffness and UV protection. The experimental results obtained from SEM, Raman, FTIR and UV visible spectral analysis along with physical property tests confirms the diffusion of TiO 2 nanoparticle along with dye into the fibre polymer matrix.

© 2015 The Authors A novel method including range-sensing scanning with texture and foot anatomical structure morphing basing on OpenSim is proposed. Palpation of important anatomical landmarks on foot surface was conducted by a physical therapist, and a range-sensing device, Microsoft Kinect sensor, was adopted for the 3D textured model acquisition. 3D coordinate data of the landmarks were measured and harnessed in OpenSim for subject-specific skeletal scaling based on a generic foot musculoskeletal model. The muscle attachment point coordinates derived from an anatomy database basing on sampling from East Asia people were used for muscle modelling. Then the 3D textured foot surface was registered with the morphed anatomical structures so that an integrated foot model was generated. The surface landmark locations were then compared with the corresponding internal bony sites and the errors were calculated to evaluate the accuracy and validity of this method. The potential error sources such as soft tissue thickness and scaling error were also mentioned and discussed. This technique is useful to create individual anatomically accurate human digital models for product design and development.

Improper footwear design causes injuries and illnesses, and hence it is important to understand not only the foot but also the footwear. In order to reduce injuries and illnesses, the foot and footwear have to match in such a way to avoid high pressure points and friction due to movements. As far as footwear fit is concerned, literature review has indicated that static footwear fit has mostly been studied, even though dynamic pressure, friction, and foot movement beyond the normal range of motion will cause different type of injuries and illnesses when compared to static fit. Therefore, this paper proposes a theoretical model for dynamic fit. The dynamic footwear fit model is developed similar to the NIOSH lifting equation. The dynamic fit is related to static fit and several multipliers related to footwear design, material properties, and time factor. More research is being carried out to set the parameter values of the theoretical model. The importance of this model is useful for quantification of dynamic footwear fit as it is more related to the actual situation. Better footwear fit, both static and dynamic, will generally improve foot health.

An internal arrangement of fibres in the yarn plays a key role in determining the physical properties and the performance characteristics of yarns and fabrics. Crosswise and lengthwise fiber migration and twist are important components to generate strength and cohesion in yarns. Their objective study is becoming essential as various new yarns has been developed with dissimilar properties and they are blended frequently. In addition, many modern techniques of spinning coming up since last few decades. Though new equipment and image processing techniques has been reported by few scientists, it is still jargon for new researchers to apply it for their own investigation. We demonstrated here how image processing technique in MATLAB could be employed by taking tracing fibre images from economic USB camera to evaluate tracing fibre angle accurately. This non-destructive evaluation method could potentially be applied in various fields of biomedical imaging, material engineering and other photogrammetric applications.

© 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.

With the rapid development of CAD/CAM technology and information technology, it is becoming possible to satisfy the quality, fit and comfort requirements of footwear design and manufacturing. In the footwear industry, although there are availability of design and manufacture technologies to fulfill the desired requirements, the current methods are very expensive. Cheap and accurate scanners are needed at the retail shop to acquire 3D foot shape information. This paper proposes a prediction method to model foot shapes through scaling a standard foot by using limited parameters. The accuracy of different number of parameters have been evaluated. Given that commercial expensive scanner accuracy range from 0.5 to 1 mm, in order to predict 3D foot shape to an accuracy of around 0.75 mm, foot outline, foot profile, two foot sections and standard foot model were required. The mean modeling errors were 0.76 mm and 0.75 mm of the right foot and left foot respectively. Results indicate that if more sections are used the modeling error decreases but this will increase the cost of the scanner and the computational complexity. This method provides a cost effective method to substitute expensive 3D foot scanners that usually use laser-based technology. Relevance to industry : This method provides the core algorithm for the development of low cost 3D foot scanners for footwear mass-customization. CCD cameras can be used to capture foot profile and outline, while fixed line laser can be used to obtain two key sections. This method reduces the need for expensive linear gears and optical systems.

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.

The shoe industry is a very competitive industry and in order to capture the market, customized shoes are desired nowadays to satisfy consumers’ needs on style, fit and comfort. Companies need to e...

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.

Well-designed compression sportswear can be used for the enhancement of athletic performance and reduction of injury. The material and geometric properties of fabric for compression sportswear are vital in achieving compression effects. This study evaluated and optimized the performance of fabric using the design of experiment (DOE) methods, the response surface method (RSM) and the finite element (FE) model. The evaluation and optimization procedure consisted of three phases. The first phase involved developing the FE model of a fabric tube and cylinder, and validated it by compression experiments involving different fabrics. The second phase evaluated the FE prediction using a five-factor experimental design, namely, hyperelastic properties, thickness, density, friction, and tensile strain. The third and final phase was an optimization process using RSM based on the evaluation results. Findings show that the FE predictions approach closely the results of validation experiments. The nonlinear elastic material properties (hyperelastic properties) and shape dimensions (thickness and tensile strain) of fabric tube were found to be important design factors in influencing contact pressure, while the density of fabric and interface friction coefficient played less important roles. The optimal FE model was determined using RSM analysis. The statistically based FE model was found to be an effective approach for evaluating and optimizing the design parameters of fabric for compression sportswear. The results can be applied to make sportswear that has different compression effects at selected anatomical locations to enhance performance and reduce injuries.

Enzymes are being extensively used in industry as they are environmentally friendly. They show a variety of advantages over chemicals, like their specificity, high efficiency and eco-friendliness. Nowadays different kinds of cellulase enzyme mixtures are commercially formulated for the finishing of cellulosic fabrics. This study investigated the effect of acid cellulase treatment on bamboo knitted-fabric to reduce pill. It has been observed that specific range of concentration only can effectively reduce pills with substantial weight loss. The common process and method followed by a textile chemist to optimize or standardize the concentration of enzyme treatment to reduce pill is still cumbersome and doubtful. A quicker and objective method is proposed to optimize the concentration of enzyme. The effectiveness is evaluated using standard Martindale tester and the weight loss of the fabric.

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...

In clinical practice, fast assessment of contact pressure is usually calculated by Laplace’s Law, which neither provides detailed surface geometry for soft materials of the leg, nor offers sufficient predictive power for designing high-performance sportswear. To bridge this gap, this paper describes a finite element (FE) model of sports tights that was developed with a detailed anatomic male leg model to predict the compression effects of high-performance sportswear. Non-linear elastic material was applied on the sportswear material to model the large deformation behavior. Experimental validation on athletes was performed. A reasonable agreement was found in the experimental validation. Suitable profiles were achieved along the height of the leg, in terms of both contact pressure and clothing deformation (true strain or logarithmic strain). The maximum contact pressure (2222 Pa) occurred on the posterior of the ankle, while the maximum principal true strain of the sports tights occurred on the edge of the upper thigh. This study indicates that the proposed FE model is useful for the assessment of contact pressure distribution in sportswear.

Fabric drape is one of the most important factors which affect the graceful appearance of the garment. The drape coefficient is the widely used parameter to describe fabric drape but it needs other parameters to explain the fabric behavior. In this study, we have investigated the relationship between the fabric drape parameters such as drape coefficient, drape distance ratio, fold depth index, amplitude and number of nodes and low stress mechanical properties. Drape parameters were tested on a specially developed instrument based on a digital image processing technique and the low stress mechanical properties were tested by the Kawabata evaluation system. Then the drape parameters were predicted by constructing models using multiple regressions method and feed-forward back-propagation neural network technique. Simple equations are derived using regressions method to predict the five shape parameters of drape profile from the low stress mechanical properties. It is observed that bending, shear and aerial density affect the drape parameters most whereas the tensile and compression have little effect on the drape parameters.

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.

Sustainability has become a global concern in recent years. The traditional production and consumption patterns bring heavy environmental burdens. As the increasing of sustainability and environmental awareness, not only the governments launched regulations and policies to reduce the environmental impacts, consumers also have begun to show interests in eco-friendly products. The footwear industry plays a significant role in the impact of the contribution of apparel section. Various analyses have been conducted on this field aiming at optimizing the footwear life cycle management and design strategy to reduce the impact. As one of the most important properties of wearing products, fitting and comfort can influence consumers purchasing and usage, thus indirectly affects the environmental impact of footwear considering the whole product lifetime. This study focuses on the role of footwear fitting and comfort in the environmental impact of footwear, analysing the influence of fitting in different product life cycle stages.

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.

The increasing power of computer hardware is enabling the user interface to enter a new dimension, where voice enhanced interfaces can remove the barrier between people and the machine for some users. In this study the traditional keyboard and mouse interface (TI) was compared with voice enhanced interface (VEI). An automatic semester grade calculation software was developed in visual basic and enhanced with a “trainable” voice recognition software for Cantonese and English. Results show that there are significant differences in task completion time, number of errors and satisfaction for the traditional keyboard interface and the voice enhanced interface. In addition, contrary to our intuition, native Cantonese speakers had more voice input errors when speaking Cantonese than English. Though voice enhanced interfaces have many potential applications, consideration should be given to the differences between English and spoken languages that are based on tones such as Cantonese. It appears that further development in voice recognition technology is required in order to make voice input widely usable for the Chinese speaking computer users. Relevance to industry Voice input may seem the ultimate input method, since hands free data entry can allow tremendous flexibility. However, the results of this study indicate that, in industry, voice input should be used with caution, especially when tonal languages or safety are involved.

Even though fit ranks as one of the most important considerations in the purchase of a shoe, the quality of fit has no metric and is hence poorly assessed. Manufacturers, retailers, and customers tend to use trial and error techniques to improve footwear fit. This approach is rather cumbersome and very unscientific. In this paper, we present a methodology to assess and thereby quantify footwear fit so that comfort can be predicted and consequently improved lasts and shoes can be produced that match different shapes of feet.

The objective of this research was to evaluate voice enhanced interface (VEI) and traditional keyboard and mouse interface (TI) in terms of users' performance, degree of satisfaction and mental workload. A trainable voice recognition software for student grade calculation was developed for the study, tested for Mandarin and English voice input, and compared to traditional input. The results show significant differences in task completion time, number of errors, satisfaction and mental workload for VEI and TI. The subjects were more satisfied with keyboard and mouse input. However, the attitude toward voice enhanced interface may change with time if improved recognition is achieved. A discussion about the comparison between the Mandarin and Cantonese voice input is also included in this paper.

The ideal means of achieving perfect fit is to produce individual, tailor-made shoes. However, this method is expensive and unaffordable for most people. At the opposite end of the scale, companies would prefer to be able to make shoes in only very few sizes, but this would lead to poor fit for the majority of customers. Many sizes of shoe are therefore required to meet consumer requirements while still ensuring that the business is profitable. The exact number of sizes is decided according to the costs of production and raw materials, as well as the fitting requirements, while the sizes themselves are determined principally on the basis of shoe-last sizes. This chapter introduces the sizing of shoe lasts, and consequently also footwear, as well as grading, a process used to modify the standard shoe last to create different sizes. A number of different standard systems for sizing and grading are used worldwide; this chapter compares the differences among the systems and discusses new research on sizing and grading.

Footwear drawing is not an easy task for the inexperienced designer. It is an essential part of fashion design and requires careful attention to sizes, dimensions and details. Poorly designed footwear will result in unnecessary pressure on the foot which may cause problems and injuries. There is a wide range of footwear which often incorporates minor design variations. In order to assist new footwear designers, this chapter provides design templates that facilitate the correct proportions to produce a professional footwear illustration. Once a designer has gained sufficient experience, they will be enabled to explore design ideas and concepts of their own.

The chapter begins by discussing customized footwear and mass-customized footwear design. it then reviews processes in shoe-last mass customization, including shoe-last design, shoe-last manufacture, shoe-last design framework, design of styling curves for shoe-lasts, and development and selection of shoe-last design. This chapter also introduces shoe-last selection based on fit rating.

The footwear industry began as a small business with a small manufacturing base and has developed into one of the most successful modern industries. Footwear itself has progressed from being a basic necessity into a luxury item, and several well-known brands have emerged in the last few decades. in this chapter the factors contributing towards the rise of the footwear industry, including global market shares, advertising budgets and global consumption, are explored. Consumers now spend more on footwear than ever before, as a result of rising economies and surplus buying power. advertising has played an important role in the footwear business, serving as a link between the consumer and the retailer. it is now an essential part of the footwear business, and companies set aside large budgets for advertising in order to promote themselves to consumers and stay ahead of the competition.

Shoe last is an aided model for shoemaking. In modern footwear industry, shoe technology consists of three parts: the design and manufacture of shoe last, the design and manufacture of upper pattern, and the design and manufacture of sole and other accessories. The design and manufacture of shoe last is the core of shoe technology. First, the design of a shoe last decides the styles of the upper and other accessories. For example, the shape of an outsole is determined by the shoe last bottom pattern, the pitch of a heel must match a shank curve of the last, the design of the toe shape of a last will influence the design of the upper, etc. In manufacturing process, shoe last is the mold and support for uniting the upper, soles, and other accessories. Therefore, the shoe last can influence not only the styles and aesthetics but also the fit and comfort of the shoes.

Part 1 Fundamentals of footwear anatomy: The anatomy of the human foot Foot biomechanics and gait Foot development in childhood and adolescence Foot models and measurements Foot problems and their implications for footwear design. Part 2 Footwear design: Shoe design development Foot sketch templates and footwear design Footwear drawing templates and shoe design. Part 3 Shoe lasts and other aspects of footwear manufacture: Design and manufacture of shoe lasts Sizing and grading of shoe lasts Shoe-last design templates Shoe-last design for mass customised footwear Footwear business and advertising The environmental impact of footwear manufacture. Part 4 Applications: Footwear for cold weather conditions Textiles for protective military footwear Textiles and other materials for orthopaedic footwear insoles Design issues in geriatric footwear.

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.

Two experiments are reported with the aim of determining the effect of pen shape and size on two different types of task: drawing and writing. Experiment 1 attempted to determine the optimum shape and size of shank for ball-point pens used to perform an accurate drawing task. Twenty-seven participants used a total of nine different pens. Drawing performance was measured by having the subjects follow mazes of different size. The dependent variables were drawing movement time and drawing accuracy. The results indicate that the pen with an equivalent diameter of 8mm had the best accuracy during drawing, even though it had the lowest speed. The results confirm the applicability and validity of the Drury tracking model for such a task. Even though users tended to prefer larger pens, their accuracy with such pens tended to be low. In a second experiment, subjects performed a writing task (with no accuracy constraints) and rated their preference for types of pen. An attempt was made to determine the preferred dimensions of ball-point pens for writing in Chinese and English. A total of 36 'bare-bodied' pens and 20 Chinese subjects were used to evaluate the effects of shape, size and weight on time to write a sentence. The Writing Ability, Comfort and an Overall Rating were given by the subjects. The results indicate that the Chinese subjects preferred a circular shaped pen for writing in both languages. A factor analysis showed that speed, comfort and writing ability are independent parameters in pen evaluations.