Effect of insole-footwear combination on foot biomechanics: A finite element study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the biomechanics of foot after wearing different footwear types incorporated with insole using Finite Element (FE) analysis. The studied models included barefoot, combination of insole and rigid footwear, combination of insole and elastic footwear without mid-foot cavity, and combination of insole and elastic footwear with mid-foot cavity. The results showed that insole and rigid footwear could reduce foot pressure, ankle joint pressure, and bone stress, but still not redistributing the foot pressure. The insole and elastic footwear without mid-foot cavity could significantly reduce forefoot pressure while the foot pressure was shifted toward mid-foot region instead. The insole and elastic footwear with mid-foot cavity could alleviate pressure in the mid-foot region better than footwear without mid-cavity.

Keywords

• footwear
• insole
• foot pressure
• foot bone stress
• ankle joint stress
• biomechanics