General Considerations on Computer-Assisted Design of Lasts for Therapeutic Footwear

Medical footwear can be classified, both in terms of its role in the treatment of foot pathomechanics and in terms of the level of customization of the design process, into: therapeutic footwear, postoperative footwear, orthopedic footwear and diabetic footwear. Customized shoes for treatment of specific medical conditions fall into the category of medical devices. At international level we can no longer talk about orthopedic shoes or custom product without substantial involvement of CAD-CAM technologies. This stage of development is supported both by an effective industry and by the availability of medical and technical professions dedicated to the conservative treatment of foot pathomechanics. This paper makes an overview of both the technological process and design technologies for lasts of therapeutic footwear.