3D laser measurements of bare and shod feet during walking

- A new system for 3D foot-shape measurements during walking is developed.
- The foot is analyzed during the complete stance phase at an arbitrary cross-section.
- The extracted dimensions of the cross-section are width, height, girth and orientation.
- The difference between a bare and a shod foot during walking is examined.
- This methodology makes it possible to determine the shoe comfort more precisely.

This article presents a new system for 3D foot-shape measurements during walking. It is based on the laser-triangulation, multiple-line-illumination and color-modulation techniques. It consists of a walking stage and four measuring modules that simultaneously acquire the foot shape from the top, bottom and side views. The measuring speed is 30 fps. Custom-developed software makes it possible to analyze the foot's dimensions at an arbitrary cross-section by means of the width, height, girth and section orientation. Six subjects were measured during bare and shod walking, and the bare foot and the outside dimensions of the footwear during the entire stance phase are presented. The relative measurement repeatability of a single subject is 0.5% for bare foot and 1% for shod foot. This means that it is possible to study the differences between various influences on the foot-shape dynamics, such as a bare/shod foot, different loading conditions and the shoe's stiffness condition.