BACKGROUND Previous research has shown that good footwear characteristics may reduce foot pain and foot-related disability in people with gout. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of good and poor footwear characteristics on plantar pressure and spatiotemporal parameters of gait in people with gout. METHODS Thirty-six people with gout participated in a cross-sectional repeated m...

Humans have been running for millions of years, but the modern running shoe was not invented until the 1970s. However, in the span of just 4 decades, this novel type of footwear with a heavily cushioned, elevated heel; arch support; and a stiffened midsole (“traditional shoe”) has altered running biomechanics and changed the way people run. Investigators contend that because of this shift to tr...

[Purpose] The purpose of the current study was to investigate the influence of footwear type on postural sway of hemiparetic stroke patients. [Subjects] Thirty-two stroke patients who were undergoing a rehabilitation program were recruited on a voluntary basis from local rehabilitation unit. [Methods] This study had a single-group repeated-measures design. The Good Balance system was used to me...

Walking is the most common form of human locomotion. From a motor control perspective, human bipedalism makes the task of walking extremely complex. For parts of the step cycle, there is only one foot on the ground, so both balance and propulsion are required in order for the movement to proceed smoothly. One condition known to compound the difficulty of walking is the use of high heeled shoes,...

Background Preceding studies reported that differences in pressure distribution according to shoe type [1] and there were many comparative analyses of motor mechanics between travel shoes and general running shoes [2], but they were confined to research on pressure distribution of foot and studies on muscle activity and gait cycle depending on shoes heel were rare. Therefore, the purpose of thi...

We have designed and built a pair of sneakers that each sense 16 different tactile and free-gesture parameters. These include continuous pressure at 3 points in the forward sole, dynamic pressure at the heel, bidirectional bend of the sole, height above instrumented portions of the floor, 3-axis orientation about the Earth's magnetic field, 2-axis gravitational tilt and low-G acceleration, 3-ax...

Wearing uncomfortable shoes for a long time may cause pains by blisters or corns in the foot. It may lead to weaken ligaments and muscles of lower limbs and feet. The previous researchers claimed that a pain in the foot may be prone to a backache [1]. High school girls feel discomfort in their foot for wearing shoes, especially the heel, toes, or sole, caused by the shape, height of heel, or ba...

The aim of this study was to explore whether strike patterns or shoe conditions have significant influence on running impact and plantar pressure. A total of 12 healthy male volunteers were requested to run under shod and barefoot conditions with heel and forefoot strike to complete 3 trials for each condition. Kinetic data were recorded during the experiment. For ground reaction force, shod ru...

The acceleration in the sagittal plane of the prosthetic tube at heel strike in normal walking was measured in five healthy amputees with their definitive below-knee prosthesis, every subject using six different prosthetic feet, wearing sport shoes as well as leather shoes. The experiments were carried out in the rehabilitation centre "Het Roessingh", Enschede, The Netherlands. Maximum accelera...

People can differentiate walking patterns of women wearing high heels or flat shoes with little doubt. Now, how to generate high-heeled walking motion for female humanoid robots is another question. We can think of applying captured motion data of women wearing high heels directly on the robots. However, we believe that more natural motion would be produced by extracting characteristics of the ...