6
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Foot shape is related to load-induced shape deformations, but neither are good predictors of plantar soft tissue stiffness

      research-article
      , ,
      Journal of the Royal Society Interface
      The Royal Society
      three-dimensional scanning, foot biomechanics, longitudinal arch, plantar fascia, statistical shape modelling, transverse arch

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Modern human feet are considered unique among primates in their capacity to transmit propulsive forces and re-use elastic energy. Considered central to both these capabilities are their arched configuration and the plantar aponeurosis (PA). However, recent evidence has shown that their interactions are not as simple as proposed by the theoretical and mechanical models that established their significance. Using three-dimensional foot scans and statistical shape and deformation modelling, we show that the shape of the longitudinal and transverse arches varies widely among the healthy adult population, and that the former is subject to load-induced arch flattening, whereas the latter is not. However, longitudinal arch shape and flattening are only one of the various foot shape–deformation relationships. PA stiffness was also found to vary widely. Yet only a small amount of this variability (approx. 10–18%) was explained by variations in foot shape, deformation and their combination. These findings add to the mounting evidence showing that foot mechanics are complex and cannot be accurately represented by simple models. Especially the interactions between longitudinal arch and PA appear to be far less constrained than originally proposed, most likely due to the many degrees of freedom provided by the structural complexity of our feet.

          Related collections

          Most cited references62

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Endurance running and the evolution of Homo.

          Striding bipedalism is a key derived behaviour of hominids that possibly originated soon after the divergence of the chimpanzee and human lineages. Although bipedal gaits include walking and running, running is generally considered to have played no major role in human evolution because humans, like apes, are poor sprinters compared to most quadrupeds. Here we assess how well humans perform at sustained long-distance running, and review the physiological and anatomical bases of endurance running capabilities in humans and other mammals. Judged by several criteria, humans perform remarkably well at endurance running, thanks to a diverse array of features, many of which leave traces in the skeleton. The fossil evidence of these features suggests that endurance running is a derived capability of the genus Homo, originating about 2 million years ago, and may have been instrumental in the evolution of the human body form.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            The spring in the arch of the human foot.

            Large mammals, including humans, save much of the energy needed for running by means of elastic structures in their legs and feet. Kinetic and potential energy removed from the body in the first half of the stance phase is stored briefly as elastic strain energy and then returned in the second half by elastic recoil. Thus the animal runs in an analogous fashion to a rubber ball bouncing along. Among the elastic structures involved, the tendons of distal leg muscles have been shown to be important. Here we show that the elastic properties of the arch of the human foot are also important.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: not found
              • Article: not found

              The arch index: A useful measure from footprints

                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: Formal analysisRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – original draftRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: Formal analysisRole: SupervisionRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Formal analysisRole: Funding acquisitionRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: Project administrationRole: ResourcesRole: SupervisionRole: Writing – review & editing
                Journal
                J R Soc Interface
                J R Soc Interface
                RSIF
                royinterface
                Journal of the Royal Society Interface
                The Royal Society
                1742-5689
                1742-5662
                January 18, 2023
                January 2023
                January 18, 2023
                : 20
                : 198
                : 20220758
                Affiliations
                School of Human Movement & Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, , Brisbane, Australia
                Author notes

                Electronic supplementary material is available online at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6384919.

                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1738-7136
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9736-0517
                Article
                rsif20220758
                10.1098/rsif.2022.0758
                9846431
                36651181
                96f01fc6-a41e-4cb5-9d6f-50ceeb51ad76
                © 2023 The Authors.

                Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.

                History
                : October 17, 2022
                : January 3, 2023
                Funding
                Funded by: Australian Research Council (ARC);
                Award ID: DE200100585
                Categories
                1004
                25
                Life Sciences–Physics interface
                Research Articles

                Life sciences
                three-dimensional scanning,foot biomechanics,longitudinal arch,plantar fascia,statistical shape modelling,transverse arch

                Comments

                Comment on this article