NEW YORK—One New York City-based company is using rubber materials to introduce a new orthotics product designed to support the foot comfort of active adults.
Alliance Design & Development Group has created orthotics with adjustable arch technology, which it claims is the first of its kind. ADDG specifically engineered SelectFlex insoles to help prevent the many ailments that can afflict those who work on their feet all day, particularly in industrial fields like the military, manufacturing and assembly, energy and utilities, health services, construction, transportation and material moving.
It's described by ADDG Chief Technology Officer Peter Tarlton as an option somewhere between pre-fab show soles commonly made available to consumers in retails and online, and the traditional custom orthotics that have been available for a number of years.
It is a 100-percent polymer and elastomer-based material that is made both in Taiwan and the U.S. The engineering thermoplastics involved include a medical grade polyethylene copolymer shell, a polyurethane copolymer high resistant flexible foam footbed, a thermoplastic elastomer polymer heel and a nylon antimicrobial fabric cover.
"We have used augmented technology to adjust how joints are supported to give the area where all your energy is expended more comfort—at the arch," Tarlton said. "These are top-end, medical grade polymers."
He said the product has been tested at Westpak, a certified product testing lab in San Diego that individually flex-cycle tested the arch of the insole in five different sizes. The SelectFlex insole withstood approximately a half-million flexes over a condensed 9-day period without a single failure to prove premium engineering polymer and design durability, the company claimed.
ADDG's mission is to prevent injuries, promote efficient recovery and help people lead pain-free lives through advanced wellness technologies, intuitively controlled interfaces and assistive human augmentation solutions that deliver long-term therapeutic benefits. It has found that industry data indicates 70-80 percent of people are susceptible to foot-over pronation, which is caused when the ankle rolls excessively inward, or the arch collapses excessively downward as with flat feet.
This can lead to such injuries as plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, shin splints, iliotibial band syndrome on outer knees, and foot or lower leg stress fractures. It also can cause lower back pain.