Improving Foot Posture
(2020-2021)
Our team is reinventing the way we look at footwear through the lens of an engineer. We believe that shoes’ primary function is to act as a garment to serve the needs of feet. Today shoes provide comfort and protection to feet, but we envision that with engineering principles shoes can be more innovative in addressing health conditions found in feet. 10% of kids are diagnosed to have pigeon toes, a foot condition that causes toes to point inwards. Other common angular foot misalignment conditions include pronation and duck feet. Feet posture is important because it is an underlying factor for health and athletic reasons. When your feet are not properly aligned with the rest of your body the imbalance makes you more prone to accidental slips and falls, which could result in further injury. In addition, incorrect foot posture can cause lower back pain. Nevertheless correct feet alignment is also crucial in high intense sports that places stress on feet, knees, and lower body. For instance, runners with foot posture problems tend to lose shock absorption ability in their feet that is found in a healthy foot posture. A weak foot posture can result in plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis and knee injuries. Feet posture is important not only for health and athletics performance, but more so since our feet hold our body weight distribution, correct feet posture is a principle key element to achieve an overall straight body posture.
Orthopigeonics is a design driven team and we are creating a prototype inspired by a back posture trainer to improve feet posture. The back posture trainer is a small square device placed on a user’s back and vibrates when the spine is slouched so that the user can straighten their back into a correct posture. We want to apply this similar concept but with feet. As a matter of fact, a team from the 2014 36th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society has already tested this technique. They created a smart pressure-sensitive insole that reminds you to walk correctly. The effectiveness of this novel way to correct over pronation posture was evaluated over a two-week period and was proven to work. The use of vibrotactile feedback reduced over pronation by 30% to 50% during the first week. Our team will be creating a similar device, but instead of using an insole pressure sensors, Orthopigeonics will be using sonar technology. This technology will help us determine feet posture and ultimately introduce an orthotic-less treatment to improve feet posture when standing by using a vibrational feedback as a reminder for users to correct their feet posture.
Orthopigeonics is a design driven team and we are creating a prototype inspired by a back posture trainer to improve feet posture. The back posture trainer is a small square device placed on a user’s back and vibrates when the spine is slouched so that the user can straighten their back into a correct posture. We want to apply this similar concept but with feet. As a matter of fact, a team from the 2014 36th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society has already tested this technique. They created a smart pressure-sensitive insole that reminds you to walk correctly. The effectiveness of this novel way to correct over pronation posture was evaluated over a two-week period and was proven to work. The use of vibrotactile feedback reduced over pronation by 30% to 50% during the first week. Our team will be creating a similar device, but instead of using an insole pressure sensors, Orthopigeonics will be using sonar technology. This technology will help us determine feet posture and ultimately introduce an orthotic-less treatment to improve feet posture when standing by using a vibrational feedback as a reminder for users to correct their feet posture.
Team Member Bios
Edgar Sanchez is a Junior studying Mechanical Engineering with a track in design. He is interested in becoming a fashion-eer at NIKE. Edgar wants to apply engineering design concepts to fashion in order to innovate footwear and revolutionize the fashion industry to become more sustainable. Outside of the classroom Edgar enjoys walking his 12 year old senior chihuahua and hopping on a metro train to discover new places in LA .
Jefferson Veillard is a freshman studying Biomedical Engineering, interested in a mechanical emphasis. He is interested in how engineering can contribute to the fields of body performance and recovery, with an aspiration to make resources available to all levels of athletes and common people. Outside of school, Jefferson enjoys working/volunteering with youth programs, playing soccer, and exploring the city.
Rohan is a freshman studying human biology. He is fascinated by the medical field and hopes to learn more about complex problem solving and engineering by working with MEDesign. In his free time Rohan pursues filmmaking as a director.
Celine Vazquez is a freshman studying Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Connected Devices and Making. She is passionate about STEM accessibility, with aspirations to increase diversity and inclusion within engineering. Outside of MEDesign, Celine is on ASBME E-Board and is a blogger for Trojans360.
Panayot Kalchev is a freshman studying Biomedical Engineering with Electrical emphasis. He is passionate about the field of genetic engineering and tissue engineering and how it can be implemented in the medical field for the recovery and regeneration of damaged libs, organs and tissue. Outside of school he enjoys going on hikes, playing water polo/ swimming, and taking part in volunteering events.