Recently, carbon fiber plates, or orthoses, have been incorporated into footwear to improve running performance, presumably through improved energy storage and return. However, few studies have explored the energetic effects these orthoses have on the distal foot, have utilized such orthoses in walking, and none have sought to specifically harness metatarsophalangeal joint deformation to store and return energy to the ankle–foot complex. To address these gaps, we developed and tested a deformable carbon fiber foot orthosis aiming to harness foot energetics and quantify the resulting effects on ankle energetics during walking in healthy adults. Eight subjects walked under three conditions: barefoot (BF), with minimalist shoes (SH), and with bilateral, deformable foot orthoses in the minimalist shoes (ORTH). Ankle and distal foot energetics, foot-to-floor and ankle angle, stance time, step length, and max center of pressure (COP) position were calculated. When walking with the orthoses, subjects showed 263.6% increase in positive distal foot work along with a 31.9% decrease in ankle work and little to no change in the overall ankle–foot complex work. Step length, stance time, and max anterior COP position significantly increased with orthosis use. No statistical or visual differences were found between BF and SH conditions indicating that our findings were due to the foot orthoses. These results suggest this foot orthosis redistributes power from the ankle to the distal foot for healthy adults, reducing the energetic demand on the ankle. These results lay the foundation for designing orthotics and footwear to improve ankle–foot energetics for clinical populations.

最近，碳纤维板或矫形器已被纳入鞋类以提高跑步性能，大概是通过改进能量存储和返回。然而，很少有研究探索这些矫形器对远侧足部的能量影响，在行走中使用这种矫形器，并且没有人试图专门利用跖趾关节变形来储存能量并将能量返回到踝足复合体。为了解决这些差距，我们开发并测试了一种可变形的碳纤维足部矫形器，旨在利用足部能量并量化健康成人行走时对脚踝能量的影响。八名受试者在三种条件下行走：赤脚 (BF)、极简鞋 (SH) 和极简鞋中双侧可变形足部矫形器 (ORTH)。脚踝和远端足部能量学，计算脚到地板和脚踝的角度、站立时间、步长和最大压力中心 (COP) 位置。使用矫形器行走时，受试者的远侧正足功增加 263.6%，踝关节功减少 31.9%，整体踝足复合体功几乎没有变化。随着矫形器的使用，步长、站立时间和最大前 COP 位置显着增加。在 BF 和 SH 条件之间没有发现统计或视觉差异，表明我们的发现是由于足部矫形器造成的。这些结果表明，这种足部矫形器可以将力量从脚踝重新分配到健康成人的远足，从而减少对脚踝的能量需求。这些结果为设计矫形器和鞋类以改善临床人群的踝足能量学奠定了基础。