The goal of this work was to determine if and how footwear properties could be modified to alter walking biomechanics. A test shoe was developed to allow heel and forefoot midsole cushioning to be quickly and independently varied. A systematic gait analysis study of 8 healthy human participants was performed to isolate and quantify the effects of shoe cushioning. Walking data were collected using a force-instrumented treadmill and infrared motion-capture system. Center-of-mass (COM) power, joint (ankle, knee, and hip) power, and deformable foot power were computed from these kinematic and kinetic data. Peak power and work summary measures were computed for key phases of the gait cycle: for push-off (the end of stance phase) and collision (immediately after foot contact). As hypothesized, forefoot cushioning primarily affected push-off power, with little effect on collision. Similarly, heel cushioning affected collision power, with minimal effect on push-off. COM peak push-off power was found to increase with softer forefoot cushioning and COM peak collision power became more negative with softer heel cushioning. Lower forefoot bending stiffness was also observed to increase peak COM push-off power. Therefore, a shoe intended to increase push-off power (e.g., for gait rehabilitation) might be designed with a soft and flexible forefoot midsole. These findings inform how shoe cushioning could be modulated to augment locomotor performance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-04072016-213700 |
| Date | 12 April 2016 |
| Creators | Korman, Zachary M. |
| Contributors | Karl E. Zelik, Thomas J. Withrow, Kenneth D. Frampton |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-04072016-213700/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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