University of Maine students are designing a device to help runners determine when their athletic shoes should be replaced to help prevent injuries like stress fractures, shin splints and inflammation.
The project team, made up of four senior biomedical engineering students, is developing an athletic shoe replacement indicator that measures structural changes in the footwear over time. Running shoes can lose cushioning and support after repeated loading cycles, even when visible wear is minimal. As the shoes’ midsoles degrade, impact forces transmitted to the body can increase, raising the risk of overuse injuries.
Replacing shoes too late is a common but overlooked problem among runners. Current methods for determining when to replace shoes, however, typically rely on mileage estimates or waiting for discomfort to occur.
“That solution is unreliable,” said UMaine senior Paul Rudman, “If a shoe is replaced too late, the damage and wear might have already occurred. However, replacing before needed is costly, and the average person can not afford it.”
The team’s indicator would instead collect data related to activity and force changes within the shoe, translating that information into a clear indicator for users.
By indicating when a shoe has been structurally compromised, the device aims to help runners make informed decisions that balance cost and health considerations. It is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing shoe constructions.
“The indicator will simply make key measurements of a person’s activity and force changes in the shoe to reliably indicate the most financially and healthily time to replace your shoe,” Rudman said.
Rudman focuses on modeling and materials design while also contributing to electrical component development. The other students involved in the project include Shawn Collins, who leads controller programming and testing; Mason Chase, who specializes in medical and design considerations; and Sreyas Sajen, who manages computations and force interaction analysis.
They are designing the replacement shoe indicator for their senior capstone project, which emphasizes applying interdisciplinary knowledge toward solving real-world problems. Rudman and his colleagues are applying their past coursework in biomechanics, materials science and electronics curricula toward developing a product with clear market relevance.
“We learn to find existing problems and use the knowledge that we already possess to create a solution,” Rudman said.
The athletics shoe replacement indicator project highlights how undergraduate research at UMaine can translate injury prevention research into practical technology aimed at supporting healthier movement for runners at all levels.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: UMaine students design device to tell runners when to replace their shoes
Reporting by Special to Seacoastonline, news@seacoastonline.com / Portsmouth Herald
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