Biomechanical parameters characterising the foot during normal gait

Abstract

The biomechanical analysis allows to understand the normal and pathological gait, the mechanics of neuromuscular control, and last but not least, allows the visualisation of the effects of footwear on human gait or feet. Biomechanical analyses are very important for the footwear development process, as they can identify the incorrect loading of the foot or the incorrect gait pattern, thus avoiding the occurrence of deformations. This paper aims to create an average representative model of barefoot loading based on an extended group of participants by applying an optimal procedure for measuring biomechanical parameters. The variation of four basic biomechanical parameters, namely force, pressure, contact time and contact area, was measured using a pressure platform and a specialised software system. The data was collected from 32 healthy females, without particularities regarding foot health and the practice of performance sports, aged between 18 and 30 years, divided into three size groups – 36, 37 and 38. The T-Student test was applied to verify if there are significant differences between the left and right foot. Statistical indicators for each parameter were calculated, in order to characterize and establish the degree of variation of the obtained values, as follows: mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values, the amplitude of variation and coefficient of variation (CV). The study results confirm that the obtained mean values can be used as input data to load the foot and perform virtual simulations of footwear products.