Can the Entire Function of the Foot Be Concentrated in the Forefoot Area during the Running Stance Phase? A Finite Element Study of Different Shoe Soles

Abstract

The goal of this study was to use the finite element (FE) method to compare and study the differences between bionic shoes (BS) and normal shoes (NS) forefoot strike patterns when running. In addition, we separated the forefoot area when forefoot running as a way to create a small and independent area of instability. An adult male of Chinese descent was recruited for this investigation (age: 26 years old; body height: 185 cm; body mass: 82 kg) (forefoot strike patterns). We analyzed forefoot running under two different conditions through FE analysis, and used bone stress distribution feature classification and recognition for further analysis. The metatarsal stress values in forefoot strike patterns with BS were less than with NS. Additionally, the bone stress classification of features and the recognition accuracy rate of metatarsal (MT) 2, MT3 and MT5 were higher than other foot bones in the first 5%, 10%, 20% and 50% of nodes. BS forefoot running helped reduce the probability of occurrence of metatarsal stress fractures. In addition, the findings further revealed that BS may have important implications for the prevention of hallux valgus, which may be more effective in adolescent children. Finally, this study presents a post-processing method for FE results, which is of great significance for further understanding and exploration of FE results.