Abstract
This study aims to evaluate the effect of insole shape and its material on gait performance. A total of 15 healthy males participated in this experiment. Six different types of insoles were evaluated, including memory-material insole, hard and soft midfoot-rise insole, arch-adjustable insole, ergo-design insole, and barefoot condition. The response measurements include foot pressure, muscle activity, joint range of motion, ground reaction force, subjective discomfort, and preferred rating. The experiment results indicate the significant difference among different insoles were found in most of the response measures, except for muscle activity. The joint range of motion in pelvic tilt was the greatest in the memory-insole than the other selected insoles. When wearing both types of midfoot-rise insoles, the pressure under metatarsal areas would transfer into midfoot area, and resulted in a higher subjective discomfort in midfoot area. Moreover, the insoles with hard arch support design (i.e. arch-adjustable insole and hard midfoot-rise insole) caused a smaller range of motion in pelvic tilt and a higher discomfort in arch area. Besides, the barefoot condition showed the worst gait performance in most of the measurements. This findings of this study suggest that foot shape should be considered when designing the form of insole. A new insole with softer-arch support design and customer made shape design was proposed in this study.