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3D dynamic behaviour of foot structure may

provide additional information for last design
ARTICLE in FOOTWEAR SCIENCE JUNE 2011
DOI: 10.1080/19424280.2011.575866

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University of Tuebingen

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Footwear Science
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3D dynamic behaviour of foot structure may provide

additional information for last design
a

Timo Schmeltzpfenning , Clemens Plank , Bettina Fritz , Petra Aswendt & Stefan Grau
a
a

University of Tuebingen, Medical Clinic, Department of Sports Medicine , Tbingen, 72076

Germany
b

ViALUX , Chemnitz, 09126 Germany

Published online: 30 Jun 2011.

To cite this article: Timo Schmeltzpfenning , Clemens Plank , Bettina Fritz , Petra Aswendt & Stefan Grau (2011) 3D dynamic
behaviour of foot structure may provide additional information for last design, Footwear Science, 3:sup1, S147-S148, DOI:
10.1080/19424280.2011.575866
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19424280.2011.575866

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Footwear Science
References
Chester, M. R., et al., 2002. International Journal of Industrial
Ergonomics, 29, 289296.

S147

McWorther, J. W., et al., 2003. Physical Therapy in Sport, 4,

8792.
Kunde, S., et al., 2010. Doctoral Thesis. Chemnitz University
of Technology.

3D dynamic behaviour of foot structure may provide additional information for last design
Timo Schmeltzpfenninga*, Clemens Planka, Bettina Fritza, Petra Aswendtb and Stefan Graua
a

University of Tuebingen, Medical Clinic, Department of Sports Medicine, Tubingen,

72076 Germany; bViALUX, Chemnitz, 09126 Germany

Downloaded by [University of Gothenburg] at 01:30 05 December 2014

Introduction
Even though the importance of well fitting footwear
has been known and studied for several years, there are
still no evidence based standard guidelines available for
last and shoe construction which take dynamic changes
in 3D foot structure into account (Krauss et al. 2010).
Instead, shoe last criteria are still based on static
anthropometric measurements and on the subjective
expert knowledge of last designers. Recent technical
developments in the field of 3D scanning provide the
opportunity to capture moving objects (Su et al. 2010).
This technological advance can be used to capture
dynamic foot shape during roll over process (ROP)
and measure foot deformities in a fast and accurate
way (Schmeltzpfenning et al. 2010).

Purpose of the study

The aim of this study was to capture typical last
circumferences, width and height measures of the foot
in a dynamic situation to find a way to objectify the
conversion from foot measurement to last values in the
future.

Methods
The dynamic plantar foot scanner, which was introduced at the FBG Symposium 2009 (Schmeltzpfenning
et al. 2009), has been further developed to capture the
entire foot shape during ROP. Five synchronized
scanner units each consisting of one CCD camera
and one projection unit, were used to capture the
complete foot shape during walking. The measurement
system is based on a fringe projection technique, where
a series of fringes is projected and recorded at

ultra-high speed to provide 3D-shape information.

With this setup, the foot can be captured at a 3D frame
rate of 46 fps.
One hundred and fifty-three subjects (, 104 < 49,
age 45  14, BMI 25  4.5) walked barefoot at a
predefined speed of 4.5 km/h  5%. Three valid
dynamic trials were then analysed.
In addition to previously reported dynamic foot
length and height measures, typical last circumference
values of the foot were analysed at 50% and 62% foot
length (FL) and at the connecting line of MTH 1 and
MTH5 (Figure 1).
Technical width measurements were investigated
for heel width (between 14% and 20% FL) and
forefoot width as the orthogonal distance between the
most medial and lateral points.
The data were evaluated automatically and continuously over the stance phase by defining intersection
planes and convex hulls.

Results
Technical dimensions for ball and heel width both
indicate significant changes during ROP of 7.0 mm on
average (4.3 mm). Changes in circumference values of
8.4 mm (4.4) and 8.9 mm (6.8 mm) for instep region
(50% FL) and ball line (MTH1MTH5) were
measured, respectively. Thereby the most elevated
point of instep height decreased by 3.3 mm
(1.5 mm) and 5.6 mm (2.3) at the ball line during
loading.
The circumference at the golden ratio of the foot
(62% FL) shows changes during ROP of 9.2 mm
(6.0 mm), with a decrease of the highest point of
2.9 mm (1.5 mm). All described dynamic foot changes
during ROP were statistically significant ( 5 0.05)

*Corresponding author. Email: timo.schmeltzpfenning@med.uni-tuebingen.de

ISSN 19424280 print/ISSN 19424299 online
 2011 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/19424280.2011.575866
http://www.informaworld.com

Downloaded by [University of Gothenburg] at 01:30 05 December 2014

S148

Abstracts
types (Mauch et al. 2009). The precise description of
change in technical measurements could provide additional information for last designers to decide about
last geometry in a more objective way.
These results and previously reported changes in
foot structure indicate a high relevance of investigating
dynamic foot behaviour. Whereas static foot measurements can only explore foot shape during a single
moment, the proposed technique is suitable to describe
total foot deformity during walking. Circumferences
can be assessed automatically without attaching
markers.
Further investigation will focus on implementing
the knowledge about dynamic foot behaviour in last
and shoe construction. First application areas will be in
childrens shoes and safety shoes.

Figure 1. 3D point cloud of the moving foot including three

circumferences at 50%, 62% foot length and at anatomical
ball line.

References
Discussion and conclusion
The present results of foot circumference measurements show changes during ROP which correspond to
more than one shoe size.
Previous studies on static foot shape, already
demonstrated the scope of objective measurements to
optimize last construction by considering different foot

Krauss, I., et al., 2010. Res Sports Med, 18 (2), 140156.

Su, X. and Zhang, Q., 2010. Optics Lasers Eng, 48, 191204.
Schmeltzpfenning, T., et al., 2010. Proc. 3rd AHFE, ISBN13: 978-0-9796435-4-5.
Schmeltzpfenning, T., et al., 2009. Footwear Sci, 1 (S1),
2830.
Mauch, M., et al., 2009. Ergonomics, 52 (8), 9991008.

Gender and age related requirements of running shoes: a questionnaire on 4501 runners
Clivia Schubert*, Doris Oriwol and Thorsten Sterzing
Chemnitz University of Technology, Department of Human Locomotion,
Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, Institute for Sport Science, Chemnitz, D-09107, Germany

Introduction
The still growing popularity of running continues to
involve an increasing number of female and older
runners. One of the challenges in designing running
footwear is to accommodate the greater number of
subgroups in running with adequate footwear.
Literature provides evidence for gender differences in
foot shape (Krauss et al. 2008) as well as for age and
gender related differences in foot sensitivity and
perception capabilities (Thornbury et al. 1981).
However, little is known about the specific preferences

*Corresponding author. Email: clivia.schubert@googlemail.com

ISSN 19424280 print/ISSN 19424299 online
 2011 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/19424280.2011.575850
http://www.informaworld.com

and needs of gender and age-specific subgroups of

runners with respect to their running footwear.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study was to investigate the
requirements and concerns of a large group of runners
with respect to current running footwear. The main
goal was to assess potential effects of age and gender
on the subjective ratings of running footwear.