Comprehensive and anatomically-based modelling of human foot

Abstract

Human foot modelling plays a key role in anthropometry, biomechanical analysis and footwear customization. A comprehensive detailed foot model can make a significant contribution to the study of simulation and prediction for product design, e.g. footwear and orthosis, and for other medical use. In this study, a systematic and anatomically-based approach for human foot modelling based on OpenSim platform and textured 3D surface model obtained from range-sensing scanning is proposed. Experiments for the validation of the kinematic and kinetic properties were also conducted. Microsoft Kinect sensor was adopted for the acquisition of 3D textured foot surface model. The precision of the equipment was tested via scanning experiment, within which the output model was compared to those from a high-end optical foot scanner. The ultrasound equipment was utilized to measure the soft tissue thicknesses which were used for the modelling and validation of the integrated foot model containing the subject-specific foot surface and morphed skeleton geometry. In addition, a system for producing foot surface anatomy, allowing customized generation of surface regions projected from the internal muscle geometries, was developed using Visual C++ on the basis of VTK and CGAL library. What's more, the comprehensive foot and shank model including all the bones and muscles belonging to this body part was also built. Motion capture trials were carried out and the kinematic procedures were reproduced and analyzed with the aid of OpenSim. The results show decent repeatability of the modelling and analysis method, and they also conform well to the data produced by some widely-accepted literature, such as the curve pattern and ranges of motion.