Written by: Cherri Choate, DPM
3/17/2010

     How much value does the footprint have in our everyday practice?  I remember when I first started practice one of the pieces of "equipment" that we acquired was an ink pad impression kit.  We did use it occasionally as a pateint demonstration tool for health fairs, but it was not used as a tool for decision making.  I also remember the first article I read in Runner's World magazine where the footprint was referenced for shoe choice.
     Since those early days, my use of the footprint has not changed much, but the over-the-counter shoe industry and shoe manufacturers still rely on the footprint for quick customer identification.  While these uses appear to be helpful and appropriate, the use of the footprint, or some variety of the footprint, does not appear to be a reliable measure for treatment options such as custom orthotic fabrication.  Do the 2-D foot pressure images  used to fabricate  some orthotics, supply enough valid information about the foot?  A number of studies have addressed this question and the most common answer is NO.   In fact an article published by McPoil in 2006 showed that you could predict the arch height from the footprint only about 25% of the time.  This result reinforces the importance of the 3-D image of the 3-D real time foot. 
   For more information on this study please reference this week's E-Journal article:  "Can Plantar Contact Area Predict Arch Height?" 

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