Voet spier morfologie en multi-segmentele voet biomechanica in symptomatische flexibele platvoet

The role of the intrinsic foot muscles have been overlooked by many researchers in the past, however, recent evidence suggests that these small muscles can have a big implication for a range of foot-health conditions and that interventions for strengthening these muscles may help to solve and prevent these conditions in symptomatic persons as well as contribute to better performances in asymptomatic persons. It has been suggested that intrinsic foot muscles function as local stabilizers and direct sensors of foot deformation, and contribute to the typical receptive and propulsive characteristics of the foot. Evidence regarding the latter characteristics is based on 3D motion analyses which only includes kinematic measurements, hence, fundamental insight into the joint kinetics could not be provided so far. The current PhD project will aim at overcoming this limitation and provide robust evidence regarding the role of intrinsic foot muscles in foot biomechanics using state-of-the art hardware and software tools.