Quantitative ultrasonography of the foot muscles: a comprehensive perspective on reliability.

Background: Quantitative ultrasound imaging is a popular technique to assess the structural properties of the intrinsic and extrinsic foot muscles. Although several studies examined test-retest reliability, specific gaps remain in assessing inter-rater reliability, particularly distinguishing between image acquisition and muscle measurement. Additionally, these studies utilized equipment that may not be generalizable across both clinical and research settings and often involved small sample sizes without prior sample size calculations.

Effect of different custom-made foot orthotics on foot joint stiffness in individuals with structural hallux limitus: A quasi-experimental study.

Background: Normal dorsiflexion of the first metatarsophalangeal joint during dynamic activities is critical for effective propulsion. Therapeutic foot orthotics may address the pathomechanical loading and joint kinematics issues faced by this population. This study aims to evaluate the effect of two different types of Custom-made foot orthosis compared to shod condition on the stiffness of the rearfoot, midfoot, and 1st metatarsophalangeal joint during walking in patients with Structural Hallux Limitus.

The effects of foot core exercises and minimalist footwear on foot muscle sizes, foot strength, and biomechanics: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Specific foot exercises and the use of minimalist shoes during running or daily life were suggested to strengthen the intrinsic foot muscles and to modify locomotion biomechanics. We aimed to review the effectiveness of these interventions to modify foot muscle sizes, foot strength, and biomechanical outcomes.

Method: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and SportDiscus databases were searched (last update: 12 March 2024).

Reliability of direct and indirect measures of intrinsic foot muscle strength in adults: A systematic review.

Background: The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the existing literature on evaluation methods developed to measure intrinsic foot muscle strength in both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. The specific objectives was to provide an overview of the evaluation methods with their protocols and reliability.

Methods: Five databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and SPORTDiscus) were searched up to August 2023.

Effect of Custom-Made Foot Orthotics on Multi-Segment Foot Kinematics and Kinetics in Individuals with Structural Hallux Limitus.

The first metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ) and the first ray are crucial in walking, particularly during propulsion. Limitation in this joint's sagittal plane motion, known as hallux limitus, can cause compensatory movements in other joints. Some studies assessed the impact of various foot orthoses designs on the foot biomechanics; however, a comprehensive understanding is lacking.

A randomized phase 1 study of safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of MK-1088, a novel dual adenosine receptor antagonist, in healthy adult participants.

This phase 1 first-in-human study evaluated the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of MK-1088, a novel, small-molecule dual inhibitor of adenosine A and A receptors. Healthy adult participants were enrolled in two panels (n = 8 each) and randomly assigned to receive MK-1088 (n = 6) or placebo (n = 2) orally in each of five treatment periods. Participants in panel A received single ascending doses of MK-1088 at 1, 10, 50, and 150 mg or placebo in a fasted or fed (50 mg only) state.

Toward subtalar joint axis-driven computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing foot orthoses: Reliability of a noninvasive clinical scanning protocol.

Background: The subtalar joint axis (STJA) occupies a key role in the dynamics of the lower limb kinetic chain, and its location has a wide interindividual variability. It has been suggested that considering the STJA location when designing foot orthoses may help to apply the required mechanical dose. However, the evidence is more anecdotal than empirical.

Foot biomechanics in patients with advanced subtalar- and mid-tarsal joint osteoarthritis and poorly responding to conservative treatment.

Background: A comprehensive insight into the effects of subtalar- and mid-tarsal joint osteoarthritis on lower limb's biomechanical characteristics during walking is lacking. Our goal was to assess joint kinematics and kinetics and compensatory mechanisms in patients with subtalar and mid-tarsal joint osteoarthritis.

Methods: Patients with symptomatic and radiographically confirmed osteoarthritis of the subtalar and mid-tarsal (n = 10) and an asymptomatic control group (n = 10) were compared.

Current evidence regarding 2D ultrasonography monitoring of intrinsic foot muscle properties: A systematic review.

Background: Ultrasonography can discriminate between intrinsic and extrinsic foot muscle properties and has therefore gained considerable popularity as an indirect strength evaluation. However, an overview on the use of ultrasound for assessing intrinsic foot musculature (IFM) is currently lacking.

Research Question: What is the current evidence regarding (1) 2D ultrasonography protocols and its reliability? (2) Reference values for cross-sectional area and dorso-plantar thickness evaluation in asymptomatic and symptomatic persons?

Methods: The PRISMA guidelines were used to conduct this systematic review.

Considerations for Cell and Gene Therapy Programs Entering the Clinical Space.

Cell and gene therapy (CGT) describes a broad category of medicinal products with potential applications to prevent and treat human disease in multiple therapeutic areas. These therapies leverage the use of modified nucleic acids, altered cells or tissue, or both. The modality, mechanism, route of administration, and therapeutic indication for a CGT product will influence the challenges and opportunities for early clinical development, some of which may be highly specific to the product under consideration.

In Vivo Foot Segmental Motion and Coupling Analysis during Midterm Follow-Up after the Open Reduction Internal Fixation of Trimalleolar Fractures.

Purpose: Trimalleolar ankle fractures (TAFs) are common traumatic injuries. Studies have described postoperative clinical outcomes in relation to fracture morphology, but less is known about foot biomechanics, especially in patients treated for TAFs. The aim of this study was to analyze segmental foot mobility and joint coupling during the gait of patients after TAF treatment.

ActiveHip+: A feasible mHealth system for the recovery of older adults after hip surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: Half of older adults undergoing hip surgery do not recover their previous functional status. mHealth is a promising tool for rehabilitating older adults after hip surgery. This study aimed to test the feasibility of the ActiveHip+ mHealth system in older adults after hip surgery.

Decoding foot deformity and joint-destruction pathways in diabetes: Emerging insights from in-vivo foot joint kinetic measures.

Background: A comprehensive insight into the effect of longstanding diabetes mellitus and neuropathy on foot joint kinetics during walking is lacking. Our goal was to assess the in-vivo kinetics of major foot joints in persons with diabetes.

Methods: Three groups, matched for age, sex and walking speed were recruited in this study: 1) people with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, 2) people with diabetes without peripheral neuropathy, and 3) control subjects without diabetes.

Impact of in shoe and barefoot placed frontal wedges on plantar loading: A systematic review.

Purpose: The main aim of this review is to report the effect of different types of in-shoe and barefoot wedges on the distribution of the plantar loading of the human foot. We hypothesise that frontal plane wedges modify this parameter.

Methods: A systematic review was performed, using the PubMed, CINAHL, Prospero and Scopus databases, consulted from their date of first publication to May 2020.

Posterior tibial tendon dysfunction alters the midfoot mechanics and energetics during gait.

A comprehensive insight into the in vivo foot kinetics of patients with posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (PTTD) is lacking to support clinical decision making. Our goal was to study how PTTD alters the kinetic and kinematic characteristics of the foot and ankle with a special focus on the midfoot joints. Multisegment foot joint kinetics and kinematics were compared based on the Rizzoli Foot Model and inversed dynamics between a control group (n = 25), patients with PTTD Stage II (n = 21) and PTTD Stage III (n = 4) over the entire stance phase.

Clinical and Biomechanical Progression after Ankle Joint Distraction in a Young Adolescent Patient with Haemophilia.

Ankle joint distraction (AJD) has been described to be a valuable joint-sparing alternative to arthrodesis or arthroplasty; however, clinical endpoints associated to this surgical intervention are lacking. The current case report describes clinical and biomechanical outcome measures of ankle joint distraction in a 14-year-old patient with severe haemophilia A. Because of persistent and incapacitating pain and the poor response to conservative and invasive treatment options, ankle joint distraction was performed in this 14-year-old patient using an external fixator encompassing two Ilizarov full rings in the tibia and a foot ring fixed to the foot by four K-wires.

ISB recommendations for skin-marker-based multi-segment foot kinematics.

The foot is anatomically and functionally complex, and thus an accurate description of intrinsic kinematics for clinical or sports applications requires multiple segments. This has led to the development of many multi-segment foot models for both kinematic and kinetic analyses. These models differ in the number of segments analyzed, bony landmarks identified, required marker set, defined anatomical axes and frames, the convention used to calculate joint rotations and the determination of neutral positions or other offsets from neutral.

The biopsychosocial-digital continuum of foot orthosis practice and research: the VALUATOR model.

Foot orthoses have been used for decades despite uncertainty surrunding their therapeutic efficacy. Orthoses have been used exclusively to affect neuro-biomechanical input and outcome variables, however, there is emerging evidence that therapeutic efficacy may be affected by a psychological stimulus. Critical appraisal of the literature highlights that there is no holistic model upon which foot orthosis practice is taught, practised nor investigated.

Preliminary Evidence That Taping Does Not Optimize Joint Coupling of the Foot and Ankle Joints in Patients with Chronic Ankle Instability.

Background: Foot-ankle motion is affected by chronic ankle instability (CAI) in terms of altered kinematics. This study focuses on multisegmental foot-ankle motion and joint coupling in barefoot and taped CAI patients during the three subphases of stance at running.

Methods: Foot segmental motion data of 12 controls and 15 CAI participants during running with a heel strike pattern were collected through gait analysis.

Morphological Characteristics of Passive and Active Structures of the Foot Across Populations With Different Levels of Physical Activity.

Background: Imaging diagnosis plays a fundamental role in the evaluation and management of injuries suffered in sports activities.

Objective: To analyze the differences in the thickness of the Achilles tendon, patellar tendon, plantar fascia, and posterior tibial tendon in the following levels of physical activity: persons who run regularly, persons otherwise physically active, and persons with a sedentary lifestyle.

Design: Cross-sectional and observational.

Biomechanical maturation of foot joints in typically developing boys: Novel insight in mechanics and energetics from a cross-sectional study.

Background: A growing body of quantitative evidence has been provided regarding age-related differences in plantar foot loading, multi-segment foot kinematics and muscle activity. Fundamental insight into the joint mechanics and energetics of the maturing foot has yet to be provided.

Research Question/hypothesis: It was hypothesized that so-called 'biomechancial maturation' joint kinetics would be observed in children underneath the age of eight and that older age-groups would not differ from each other in these parameters.

Foot Loading Associated with Barefoot, Shod, and Minimalist Running in Male Rearfoot Strikers.

Background: We aimed to determine the center of pressure (COP) trajectories and regional pressure differences in natural rearfoot strikers while running barefoot, running with a minimalist shoe, and running with a traditional shoe.

Methods: Twenty-two male natural rearfoot strikers ran at an imposed speed along an instrumented runway in three conditions: barefoot, with a traditional shoe, and with a minimalist shoe. Metrics associated to the COP and regional plantar force distribution, captured with a pressure platform, were compared using one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance.