If you’ve been in for a biomechanical assessment at the clinic in Hampton-in-Arden, you’ll have walked across the Footscan pressure plate. It records what your foot is doing under load: where pressure builds, how quickly it moves, how your weight transfers from heel to toe, and how your left side compares with your right. All of it taken while you’re moving, rather than from a foot held still on a piece of foam.
That information has always driven the design of the Phits 3D-printed orthoses we prescribe. We’ve now added something to it. We can scan your foot with our new 3D foot scanning.
What's new: 3D foot scanning
Alongside the pressure and gait data, we can now take a precise three-dimensional scan of the shape of your foot. It takes under a minute per foot. No plaster, no foam impression box, nothing messy. The scan uploads straight into the same software that holds your Footscan results.
The technology is called Materialise SAM. The manufacturer has validated it against their own laboratory scanners, so what we capture in clinic is an accurate reproduction of your foot rather than an approximation of it.
Why combining 3D scanning with gait analysis matters
Pressure and shape answer two different questions about your foot.
Footscan answers the first one. How does your foot behave? Timing, loading, the pattern of roll-through, where force concentrates and where it doesn’t. That’s the part that explains why a particular structure is being overloaded.
3D scan answers the second. What does your foot look like? Arch height and profile, the relationship between your forefoot and rearfoot, width, and the specific contours the device has to sit against.
Design a device from pressure data alone and you’re making assumptions about the shape it will meet. When you design it from a cast or a foam box and you know nothing about what happens when you walk. Use both, and the prescription is built on how your foot loads and fitted to the surface it will sit against. In practice that means better contact through the arch, a device that feels comfortable sooner, and less time spent adjusting it afterwards.
You get to watch your custom orthotics being designed
Patients seem to enjoy this part.
Because the scan gives us a true 3D model, we can put the proposed orthotic design straight onto your own foot on screen, in front of you, while you’re sitting there. You can see where the arch profile meets your arch, you can see where we’re adding support, which areas we’re taking pressure off, and why.
Don’t have to take my word for what the device is going to do. You can look at it, ask about it, and tell me if something doesn’t make sense. It’s your foot and your treatment, so you should be able to see how the thing is being built.
A wider choice of device: Phits and Phits Dynaprint
We now have access to Phits Dynaprint alongside the original Phits and Phits+. It came to the UK this year.
All of them are custom 3D-printed from your own gait data, and all of them are far lighter than a traditional orthotic. What differs is how they’re made and what they’re made from.
Phits and Phits+ are laser-sintered from a durable nylon called PA12. This is what I reach for when I need precise control of stiffness in specific places. Rigid under one part of the foot, more flexible under another, targeted support behind the navicular, rearfoot posting, and shapes built for particular footwear such as running shoes, football boots, cycling shoes, golf shoes, ski boots and work boots.
Phits Dynaprint is printed from TPU, a softer and more resilient material, with several density zones mapped from your own pressure data to guide the way your foot rolls through each step. It suits you better if cushioning and shock absorption matter more to you than firm control, if you’re on hard floors for long hours, or if you need the device sooner. It’s also a more accessible option if you want a fully bespoke 3D-printed device.
Two people can walk in with the same diagnosis and need quite different devices. Your footwear, your job, your weight, how active you are, how irritable the tissue is and how well you tolerate control all feed into that decision. Being able to choose the material as well as the shape gives me more to work with.
Who this helps
If we’re considering orthotic therapy for you, this assessment is worth having. It’s particularly useful if you’re dealing with:
- Plantar heel pain and plantar fasciopathy
- Insertional or mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy
- Tibialis posterior tendinopathy and progressive flatfoot
- Forefoot pain, metatarsalgia and Morton’s neuroma
- Shin pain and lower limb overload from running
- Hip and gluteal (trochanteric) pain where lower limb mechanics are playing a part
- Knee pain related to how you’re loading
- Getting back to sport after a lower limb injury
What to expect at your biomechanical assessment
3D scanning is included in a full biomechanical and gait assessment, so there’s nothing extra for you to book. Your appointment will involve a detailed history, a hands-on examination of your foot, ankle and lower limb, a walking assessment on the Footscan plate (and running, if that’s relevant to you), the 3D scan, and then a proper discussion of what I’ve found. If orthoses are the right call, you’ll see the design before anything is ordered.
Orthoses on their own are rarely the whole answer. They usually sit alongside a loading and rehabilitation plan, advice on your footwear, and sometimes shockwave or MLS laser therapy. The scanner doesn’t make the clinical decisions. I still do that. What it does is make those decisions better informed, and far easier to show you.
Book an assessment
If you’ve been putting up with foot, ankle, shin, knee or hip pain, or you’ve had orthoses before that never felt quite right, a biomechanical assessment is the place to start.
Book a biomechanical assessment or call the clinic and we can talk through whether it’s the right appointment for you.
Frequently asked questions about 3D foot scanning
No to both. Nothing touches your foot. You sit or stand as I direct you while the scan is captured, and it takes under a minute per foot. There's no plaster, no foam impression box, and nothing to wash off afterwards.
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A plaster cast or a foam box captures the shape of your foot at one moment, usually with the foot held still and off the ground. It tells us nothing about what your foot does when you're moving. A 3D scan gives us that same shape information far more accurately, and because we pair it with pressure and gait data recorded while you walk, we're designing from how your foot loads rather than only how it sits.
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The manufacturer has validated the scanning technology we use against their laboratory-standard scanners for accuracy, reliability and repeatability. The orthotic design that comes out of it is specified to within 0.1mm.
Yes, and that's one of the main reasons we've introduced it. We put the proposed design onto the 3D model of your own foot on screen during your appointment, so you can see where the support sits, what's being offloaded and why, and ask whatever you want before anything is ordered.
Around two and a half weeks from your assessment, depending on which device we've prescribed. We'll then see you again to fit them, check they're comfortable and make any adjustments.
Not necessarily. The assessment comes first and what I find determines the plan. Plenty of people get better with a loading and rehabilitation programme, a change of footwear, or treatments such as shockwave or MLS laser therapy, without needing a bespoke device at all. If I do think orthoses will help you, I'll explain why and you'll see the reasoning on screen.
Phits devices are built for specific footwear. There are separate designs for everyday shoes, work boots, running, football, cycling, golf and skiing. If you need them for more than one type of shoe, tell me at your assessment so we can plan for it.
No. You can book a biomechanical assessment directly. If you need imaging or an onward opinion, I'll arrange it or point you in the right direction.
RS Podiatry Clinic is at Unit 3 Patrick Farm Barns, Meriden Road, Hampton-in-Arden, B92 0LT. We're a few minutes from Solihull, Meriden, Balsall Common, Knowle, Dorridge and the NEC, and easy to reach from Coventry, Birmingham and Kenilworth. There's free parking on site.