The invention relates to articles of footwear having traction elements, and systems and methods for manufacturing same. An example shoe includes an upper and a sole plate, the sole plate including a lower surface adapted for ground contact having a first sole portion including first traction elements, the first traction elements having a distal end and a side wall with extensions extending from a central core, and a second sole portion including second traction elements, the second traction elements having at least one geometrical feature differing in one or more aspects from a corresponding geometrical feature of the first traction elements.

A system (10) for detecting and displaying baropostural parameters comprises a platform (11) with a footplate (15) intended to accommodate a person standing on it and provided with sensors for detecting the pressure distribution of the imprint of the two feet on the footplate. An electronic acquisition device (32) is connected to the sensors for digital acquisition of the pressure distribution in order to create a map of the pressure points of the feet on the footplate. Calculation means (33a) are designed to calculate, for each foot and for both feet on the footplate, the geometric centers (52, 53, 54) and the barycenters (55, 56, 57) of the map of the pressures and display means (33b) display on a screen (31) a graphical representation of the imprints of the two feet on the footplate together with the corresponding geometric centers (52, 53, 54) and barycenters (55, 56, 57) calculated by the calculation means. The footplate may have a rear part (15) which can be raised for simulating shoe heels underneath the heels. Front and/or lateral telecameras (19, 20) may be provided in order to provide further postural data.

The invention relates to devices and methods for designing and manufacturing customized footwear, and components thereof. An exemplary method includes a method of designing at least a portion of a sole of an article of footwear customized for a user. The method includes the steps of determining at least one input parameter related to a user, analyzing the at least one input parameter to determine at least one performance metric of a foot of the user, and determining at least one customized structural characteristic of at least a portion of a sole of an article of footwear for the user based on the performance metric.

Custom-made shoes and orthopedic insoles support the wearer, with these products being manufactured at specialist retailers by a method that includes the steps of: producing a footprint; capturing the footprint and a measurement standard as a footprint image using a camera; and, extracting and/or determining the characteristic foot data on the basis of the footprint image.

The invention allows foot measurement for selecting ready-made footwear that provides accurate results efficiently, easily and with low costs, and which can be performed both at home and at stores. An apparatus (120) of foot measurement comprises a base plate (121) and a single circumference measurement loop (123). The base plate (121) is utilized in measuring the length (401) of a foot, and an elastic portion (123A) of the circumference measurement loop (123) is utilized in measuring the circumference (402) around the ball of the foot.

A method for selecting size of an orthotic for a foot is described, where the method comprises collecting certain measurements for a foot, such as a length corresponding to a distance from a proximal point of the heel to a base of a metatarsal head and, optionally, a width w corresponding to a distance from the medial edge of the foot at approximately the base of the first metatarsal head to the lateral edge of the foot at approximately the base of the fifth metatarsal head, and, optionally, a height h corresponding to the height of the lateral foot arch relative to ground. The height h is measured, in some cases, with the foot in an adjusted or restored condition. The measurements are used to recommend or to select a size of an orthotic product.

A system, method, and computer readable medium for measuring limb range of motion. The method includes initializing a scanning area. A classifier trained to recognize limbs is loaded into memory. A frame representing a 3D point cloud having at least one limb of a person in motion is captured. A box fitting algorithm is performed on the captured at least one limb to enable the classifier to identify the at least one limb. One or more boxes generated from the box fitting algorithm are sliced into a plurality of 2D point clouds to measure and record the circumference of each 2D point cloud to obtain limb range of motion parameters. The limb range of motion parameters are a maximum and a minimum size of the at least one limb as a function of soft tissue expansion and contraction of the limb while under pressure, force, and/or motion.

A dynamic pressure controlled air cushion device disposed on a bottom part of a shoe comprises a first air bag and a second air bag communicated with each other through an air passage, and the first air bag and the second air bag are respectively disposed corresponding to a front foot sole and a rear foot sole of a user. Through introducing the air into the first air bag by the first air pump and introducing the air into the second air bag by the second air pump, the first air bag and the second air bag are inflated, so as to increase a supporting force for the front foot sole and the rear foot sole of the user

Devices, systems and methods for surgical treatment of mid-foot disorders such as osteoarthritis, spacing disorders, or alignment disorders, including mid-foot arthroplasty devices and systems for the 2.sup.ndand 3.sup.rd tarsometatarsal (TMT) joint, implants for post-osteotomy spacing and+realignment, arthroplasty articular implants, dowel grafts for TMT arthrodesis or fusion, dowel grafts for navicular cuneiform (NC) arthrodesis, dowel grafts for intercuneiform arthrodesis, and/or locking dowels for joint fusion.

The invention relates to a system for the design of patient-specific orthotics, and particularly approaches the design of patient-specific orthotics upon an assessment of the patient's gait cycle. This enables the practitioner to precisely prescribe a kinetic orthotic that will optimize the way in which force is transferred during that patient's gait cycle.