Weight Bearing CT and Relative Orientation of Foot Bones: Effect of Loading and Heeled Shoes

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to determine the orientation and relative position of the foot bones in Weight Bearing
CT, highlighting the effect of the load and the shoe with the heel. Thanks to a Cone Beam CT (OnSight 3D Extremity
System, Carestream) equipment, three scans of the foot of a healthy young subject were carried out in three conditions:
“unloading”, “loading”, and wearing a shoe with “heel”. In order to assess the accuracy of the articular angles of
the foot through non-invasive measurements, a measurement was performed by Gait-Analysis with passive markers in
the same conditions. The effect of the “load” resulted in a significant alteration of the foot posture especially in the
sagittal plane, with crushing of the longitudinal medial arch. The heeled shoe involves enormous deformations at the
level of the metatarsophalangeal joints and the ankle.