Retro-reflective skin markers for three-dimensional motion capture were applied to the right foot of each human participant of a UQ-led study on how foot muscles support the arch.
New insights into how foot muscles support the arch of the foot could spark a change in the design of running shoes, following a study led by The University of Queensland. The study's findings are also expected to impact the treatment of foot conditions, the design of efficient prosthetic and robot limbs and improve understanding of how humans came to walk and run efficiently on two feet. Dr Glen Lichtwark at UQ's School of Human Movement Studies said the importance of muscles in moving a person's legs was already well-known, but muscles in the foot had been deemed less important. "Ligaments in the foot have generally been regarded as the main support for the foot arch, which helps us walk and run by acting as a spring," Dr Lichtwark said. "As you compress the arch it stretches the bottom of the arch and that causes some tension in the ligaments that store elastic energy, which can be released when you push off. "Anatomical research suggests that muscles in the feet may also be important in supporting the arch of the foot as well and we were really interested in whether or not these muscles have any capacity to assist this function of the foot, " he said. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the role of muscles in the foot.
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