3D-Printed Sole with Variable Density using Foot Plantar Pressure Measurements

Abstract

With the increasing applications of 3D printing, podiatric research has received considerable attention from researchers worldwide. 3D-printed customized soles came into use to mitigate a patient foot’s pain and ameliorate comfortability. The presented work is aimed to provide customized foot sole with variable infills and appropriate depths in order to get the adequate pressure and comfort on the precise nerve areas, which are the origins of pain.In the proposed work, a 3D-sole is reconstructed conceptualizing variable infill density and appropriate depth fitting using foot plantar pressure measurements. The given work comprised of four phases: attaining foot plantar pressure readings, data processing, infill density distribution and 3D printing of the sole. Initially, the foot plantar data is obtained by a platform using an array of 32 X 32 piezo-electric sensors. Secondly, the input data is corrected with the removal of the rigid pattern from the foot sole via median filtering and interpolated via bicubic interpolation to obtain the smooth surface. Thereafter, modifiers are created to dispense different densities to distinct portions of the model. At last, the model is 3D-printed using fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology. The novel work can be extremely considerable in various medical and commercial applications.