Title: Design and development of customised split insole using additive manufacturing technique

Authors: Sivakumar Ganesan; Rajesh Ranganathan

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Civil Aerodrome Post, Coimbatore, TN, 641014, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Civil Aerodrome Post, Coimbatore, TN, 641014, India

Abstract: Medical researchers are seeking innovative manufacturing methods to produce healthcare products alike; prosthetics, implants, diabetic foot care product, etc., faster and more accurately. This research focuses on exploring the current technical challenges and provides a unique solution through additive manufacturing method in the development of customised split insole. Custom foot insole is developed by considering the essential anatomical study on bio-mechanics, anthropometric data of the human foot, gait analysis and plantar pressure. A new product custom body fitted product was developed considering the various mechanical and human parameters and the results are discussed with the possible improvements that the developed insoles have provided. The developed insole increases contact area and redistributes average peak plantar pressure, reduces at Zones 2 and 3 by 27.78% and 76.92%, respectively. This research work provides the methodology to manufacture a customised split insole using an additive manufacturing technique.

Keywords: anthropometry; foot biomechanics; plantar pressure and 3D printing/additive manufacturing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRAPIDM.2018.095783

International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing, 2018 Vol.7 No.4, pp.295 - 309

Received: 31 Jan 2017
Accepted: 27 Nov 2017
Published online: 22 Oct 2018 *

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