A State-of-the-Art Review on 3D Printed
Orthotic Devices for Flat Feet Condition
S. Koteswari and Yeole Shivraj Narayan
Abstract Flat feet are one of the most commonly occurring ailments among humans
all over the world. About 20–30% of the global population is suffering from this
condition. Not only elder people but middle-aged people between 40 and 60 years
and even younger age people between 18 and 21 years are also suffering from this
ailment. Based on the National Foot Health Assessment conducted in the USA,
about 18 million people, aged 21 years or older have this condition along with
another 8 million adults suffering from fallen arches. This is mainly attributed to
the change in lifestyle of the people. Lack of physical activities, overrunning, sitting
or standing for long time, obesity pregnancy, rheumatoid arthritis diabetes, etc. are
the primary reasons for this condition to develop in a normal person. A flat foot
generally affects skeletal alignment leading to pain in the ankles, knees and hips. In
order to overcome this, orthopedists are recommending the usage of orthotic devices
for providing relaxation and comfort to the foot. Conventionally, orthotic devices
made from custom silicon using an injection molding methods are used but their
performance in terms of providing comfort is not up to the satisfied state. Researchers
are trying to find an alternative to the conventional ones by finding better comfort
providing optimized designs like 3D printed orthotic devices. This paper presents an
extensive review of the state of research being carried out in the field of leg prosthetics
especially orthotic devices including 3D printed orthotic devices.
Keywords Flat feet · 3D printing · Orthotic devices · Fallen arch
1 Introduction to Human Foot
In humans, foot plays a major role to perform activities like standing, walking,
running, etc. The foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, 19 muscles, 107 ligaments and
over 100 tendons. This constitutes 25% of bones in the human body [1].
S. Koteswari · Y. Shivraj Narayan (B)
VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, TS 500090, India
e-mail: shivrajyeole@vnrvjiet.in
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
N. Gascoin and E. Balasubramanian (eds.), Innovative Design, Analysis
and Development Practices in Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Lecture Notes
in Mechanical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6619-6_29
277
Orthotic Devices for Flat Feet Condition
S. Koteswari and Yeole Shivraj Narayan
Abstract Flat feet are one of the most commonly occurring ailments among humans
all over the world. About 20–30% of the global population is suffering from this
condition. Not only elder people but middle-aged people between 40 and 60 years
and even younger age people between 18 and 21 years are also suffering from this
ailment. Based on the National Foot Health Assessment conducted in the USA,
about 18 million people, aged 21 years or older have this condition along with
another 8 million adults suffering from fallen arches. This is mainly attributed to
the change in lifestyle of the people. Lack of physical activities, overrunning, sitting
or standing for long time, obesity pregnancy, rheumatoid arthritis diabetes, etc. are
the primary reasons for this condition to develop in a normal person. A flat foot
generally affects skeletal alignment leading to pain in the ankles, knees and hips. In
order to overcome this, orthopedists are recommending the usage of orthotic devices
for providing relaxation and comfort to the foot. Conventionally, orthotic devices
made from custom silicon using an injection molding methods are used but their
performance in terms of providing comfort is not up to the satisfied state. Researchers
are trying to find an alternative to the conventional ones by finding better comfort
providing optimized designs like 3D printed orthotic devices. This paper presents an
extensive review of the state of research being carried out in the field of leg prosthetics
especially orthotic devices including 3D printed orthotic devices.
Keywords Flat feet · 3D printing · Orthotic devices · Fallen arch
1 Introduction to Human Foot
In humans, foot plays a major role to perform activities like standing, walking,
running, etc. The foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, 19 muscles, 107 ligaments and
over 100 tendons. This constitutes 25% of bones in the human body [1].
S. Koteswari · Y. Shivraj Narayan (B)
VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, TS 500090, India
e-mail: shivrajyeole@vnrvjiet.in
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
N. Gascoin and E. Balasubramanian (eds.), Innovative Design, Analysis
and Development Practices in Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Lecture Notes
in Mechanical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6619-6_29
277