A dynamic 3D foot reconstruction system

Foot problems are varied and range from simple disorders through to complex diseases and joint deformities. Wherever possible, the use of insoles, or orthoses, is preferred over surgery. Current insole design techniques are based on static measurements of the foot, despite the fact that orthoses are prevalently used in dynamic conditions while walking or running. This paper presents the design and implementation of a structured-light prototype system providing dense three dimensional (3D) measurements of the foot in motion, and its use to show that foot measurements in dynamic conditions differ significantly from their static counterparts. The input to the system is a video sequence of a foot during a single step; the output is a 3D reconstruction of the plantar surface of the foot for each frame of the input. Engineering and clinical tests were carried out for the validation of the system. The accuracy of the system was found to be 0.34 mm with planar test objects. In tests with real feet, the system proved repeatable, with reconstruction differences between trials one week apart averaging 2.44 mm (static case) and 2.81 mm (dynamic case). Furthermore, a study was performed to compare the effective length of the foot between static and dynamic reconstructions using the 4D system. Results showed an average increase of 9 mm for the dynamic case. This increase is substantial for orthotics design, cannot be captured by a static system, and its subject-specific measurement is crucial for the design of effective foot orthoses.