Optical Contouring of Unloaded and Loaded Foot Shape for Manufacturing Technology

WYKO proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of an optical contouring system that will quickly measure the shape of both the resting and loaded foot to allow automated manufacture of therapeutic footwear directly from the data provided in an open architecture format. This bypassess the steps of manually forming casts and forming visual opinions of loaded skeletal structure. WYKO will integrate the existing technology it has developed for the resting foot with appropriate new software for the open architecture environment. This will be followed by a laboratory demonstration of data gathering on the loaded foot. Requirements for a Phase II operational system that can be integrated into an automated manufacturing site will be defined. The commercial potential is to provide the basis for a therapeutic footwear and custom shoe industry that could lead the world in cost-effectiveness and speed of delivery.