The percentage of sports and leisure shoes sold worldwide is gradually increasing. However, consumers have little or no objective information on the mechanical properties of the shoes. A justified selection protocol of sports and leisure shoes based on static and dynamic shoe properties considering the intended use is essential. Today, commonly accepted dynamic test protocols for (sports) shoes do not exist. The development of an artificial parametric foot as part of an innovative robot gait simulator is a tool to objectify shoe properties independently from possible compensations encountered during assessment of test persons. This contribution discusses the development of an artificial foot enabling objective testing of the mechanical and functional properties of sports and leisure shoes.
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Inmiddels is er al weer een jaar verstreken sinds het project "These Shoes are made for walking" is gestart. Een project dat onderwijs ontwikkelt en uitvoert om orthopedische schoentechnici op te leiden voor de regio Zuidoost-Azië in Hanoi, Vietnam. Fontys paramedische hogeschool werkt hier samen met de universiteit voor Labour and Social Affairs (ULSA) in Hanoi, de Leprastichting en het Lilianne Fonds. Het project is mogelijk gemaakt door de deelnemers aan de Nationale Postcode Loterij.
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Vorig jaar november heeft een kwartiermakersbezoek plaatsgevonden aan het Vietnamese Centre for Orthopaedic Technologists (VietCot) in Hanoi, Vietnam. Het Vietcot is onderdeel van de universiteit voor sociale zaken in Hanoi. Zij verzorgt internationale opleidingen op het gebied van protheses en ortheses. Het kwartiermakersbezoek vond plaats in het kader van het project "These Shoes are made for Walking" met als doel de opzet en realisatie van een orthopedische schoen technische opleiding. In de vorige uitgaven van het vakblad Orthopedische Technologie is hier uitvoerig over verteld.
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Background Several footwear design characteristics are known to have detrimental effects on the foot. However, one characteristic that has received relatively little attention is the point where the sole flexes in the sagittal plane. Several footwear assessment forms assume that this should ideally be located directly under the metarsophalangeal joints (MTPJs), but this has not been directly evaluated. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the influence on plantar loading of different locations of the shoe sole flexion point. Method Twenty-one asymptomatic females with normal foot posture participated. Standardised shoes were incised directly underneath the metatarsophalangeal joints, proximal to the MTPJs or underneath the midfoot. The participants walked in a randomised sequence of the three shoes whilst plantar loading patterns were obtained using the Pedar® in-shoe pressure measurement system. The foot was divided into nine anatomically important masks, and peak pressure (PP), contact time (CT) and pressure time integral (PTI) were determined. A ratio of PP and PTI between MTPJ2-3/MTPJ1 was also calculated. Results Wearing the shoe with the sole flexion point located proximal to the MTPJs resulted in increased PP under MTPJ 4–5 (6.2%) and decreased PP under the medial midfoot compared to the sub-MTPJ flexion point (−8.4%). Wearing the shoe with the sole flexion point located under the midfoot resulted in decreased PP, CT and PTI in the medial and lateral hindfoot (PP: −4.2% and −5.1%, CT: −3.4% and −6.6%, PTI: −6.9% and −5.7%) and medial midfoot (PP: −5.9% CT: −2.9% PTI: −12.2%) compared to the other two shoes. Conclusion The findings of this study indicate that the location of the sole flexion point of the shoe influences plantar loading patterns during gait. Specifically, shoes with a sole flexion point located under the midfoot significantly decrease the magnitude and duration of loading under the midfoot and hindfoot, which may be indicative of an earlier heel lift.
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BACKGROUND: The design and manufacturing of effective foot orthoses is a complex multidisciplinary problem involving biomedical and gait pattern aspects, technical material and geometric design elements as well as psychological and social contexts. This complexity contributes to the current trial-and-error and experience-based orthopedic footwear practice in which a major part of the expertise is implicit. This hampers knowledge transfer, reproducibility and innovation. OBJECTIVE/METHODS: A systematic review of literature has been performed to find evidence of explicit knowledge, quantitative guidelines and design motivations of pedorthists. RESULTS: 17 studies have been included. No consensus is found on which measurable parameters ensure proper foot and ankle functioning. Parameters suggested are: neutral foot positioning and control of rearfoot motion, maximum arch, but also tibial internal/external rotation as well as a three point force system. Also studies evaluating foot orthoses centering on the diagnosis or orthosis type find no clear guidelines for treatment or for measuring the effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS: A gap in the translation from diagnosis to a specific, customized and quantified effective orthosis design is identified. Suggested solutions are both top-down, fitting of patient data in simulations, as well as bottom-up, quantifying current practices of pedorthists in order to develop new practical guidelines and evidence-based procedures.
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Podotherapeutische zorg als onderdeel van professionele voetzorg is in Zuidoost-Azië nog een onbekend fenomeen. Uitbreiding van het curriculum van de in 2014 in Hanoi (Vietnam) gestarte opleiding tot orthopedisch schoenmaker met onderwijs in het toepassen van vilttherapie biedt kansen. Een combinatie van theoretische uitleg en begeleid oefenen van praktische vaardigheden is daarbij aan te bevelen. Dat concludeert Esther Stals, student podotherapie aan Fontys Paramedische Hogeschool, in haar afstudeeronderzoek.* Zij verbleef hiervoor vijf weken in Vietnam.
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Already for many centuries shoemaking exists as a craft. Orthopaedic shoemaking is a relative new profession that has emerged and evolved during the last century. Originated from the craft of shoemaking it has developed into a profession on the intersection between healthcare and technology. Important drivers were unity of language, developments in science and technology, but also developments in the relationship with society. Whereas in the past shoes were made for patients, today shoes are made with patients, driven by patients’ requirements. This development urges orthopaedic shoemaking to shift from shoe design to the design of mobility solutions, to adopt new ways of interdisciplinary cooperation and to innovate the manufacturing process. This offers many opportunities for research.
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A commonality in socially-aware persuasive games is the strategy to appeal to empathy, as a means to have players feel and understand the struggles of another. This is particularly evident in the expanding use of immersive technologies, lauded for its ability to have players more literally 'stand in another's shoes'. But despite the growing interest, empathic engagement through immersive technologies is still ill-defined and the design thereof complicated, with questions like "who is the player?" and "with whom does the player empathize?". We contend that a better understanding of the different perspectives to empathic engagement - the observer, partaker, and victim - and the gap between realities can be insightful, and resulted in a framework to support future research and design.
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Mirna van Vught, Simone Poppelaars, Stef van de Meugheuvel en Yff verstraten, studenten Podotherapie en Orthopedische (schoen)technologie aan Fontys Paramedische Hogeschool in Eindhoven, zijn in juli jl. van Noord- naar Zuid-Vietnam gereisd om zich te verdiepen in de Aziatisch orthopedische schoenmakerswereld. Ze hebben studenten uit heel Azië ontmoet, bezochten de schoenmakersopleiding in Hanoi, reisden een dag mee met het mobiele protheseteam van de Leprastichting, liepen stage in een schoenwerkplaats en leerden alles over voetproblemen in Azië. Deze studiereis is onderdeel van het project 'These shoes are made for walking.'
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The aim of the current study is twofold. First, it investigates the influencing factors of runners' sports apparel value at a running event. Second, the potential value of observational data in the socioeconomic field is investigated, as this study combines data retrieved by a survey and by visually scanning pictures of event runners. The results demonstrate that visual data gathering methods contribute to explaining sports apparel usage and consumption. For example, it is found that runners who wear a shirt of the running event spent less money on their running shoes and overall sports apparel. From a methodological point of view, it is shown that observation leads to no nonresponse and thus corrects for selection bias. Other advantages (e.g., less selection bias, less recall bias, time-efficiency for research subject, potential automatic computer analysis in future) and disadvantages (e.g., technical, labor intensiveness for researcher, privacy) of visual data are discussed.
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