Sarah Hildreth
During repeated long-distance running or hiking, high ground reaction forces often lead to overuse injuries such as shin splints or runner’s knee. Wearing insoles can potentially reduce the occurrence of these injuries. Kingetics is a company that provides orthotic insoles designed to reduce ground reaction forces (GRFs) in the lower limbs. My research experiment tests the Kingetics Orthotic Insoles to determine the extent to which they reduce these forces. To determine the effectiveness of these insoles, the subjects will be wearing wrestling shoes both with and without the insoles, as wrestling shoes proved minimal cushioning.
I am currently collecting data in the Rehabilitation and Movement Science Laboratory. The lab setup includes a treadmill that uses force plates to measure vertical GRFs, as well as a Vicon motion capture system which tracks a subject’s gait as they progress through their walking or running cycle. To compare the effect of the insoles, I conduct 18 walking trials and 5 running trials per subject. For this poster session, the walking trials have two variables and the running trials will have one. The walking trial variables are loading (with or without a weighted backpack) and insole stiffness (no insoles or one of three different insole stiffness levels). These variables allow me to assess whether increased weight influences the insole effectiveness in the running shoes, as well as the effect of insole stiffness in the reduction of GRFs. The only variable in the running trial is the stiffness of the insoles in the running shoes.
The results of this analysis show no significant changes for the vertical ground reaction forces but hold promising results for the anterior and posterior ground reaction forces that require further investigation. Future research would also consist of examining other biomechanical parameters using collected motion capture data.
Comments
Very interesting project — thank you for sharing your work! —Jeanette Herman
How did you connect with this orthotic insole company — did the project originate with them, or had you previously been interested in this type of research? —Rob Reichle
The company, Kingetics, reached out to our lab and asked us to perform a study to confirm their claims about the insoles. —Sarah Hildreth