1999 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Thermo-physiological Responses of the Foot and its Application to Designing Footwear
Project/Area Number |
09680059
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
Section | 一般 |
Research Field |
家政学
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Research Institution | Bunka Women's University |
Principal Investigator |
IWASAKI Fusako Junior College Division of Bunka Women's University, Professor, 教授 (40103775)
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Project Period (FY) |
1997 – 1999
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Keywords | Thermo-Physiological Responses of the Foot / Shoe Micro-Climate / Designing Footwear / Autonomic Nervous Activities / Skin Temperature / Bacteria / Skin Blood Flow / Perspiration |
Research Abstract |
This study was performed to investigate thermo-physiological responses of the foot in various environments (22/28/34℃, 50%RH) and psychological responses on the shoes in order to obtain fundamental data for designing healthy footwear. The results are as follows. (1) The average skin temperature of the foot varies from 29.9±1.2℃ (22℃) to 33.3±1.0℃ (28℃) to 36.1±0.5℃(34℃). The differences based on the individual and the part of the foot are larger than on the lowest temperature. On the other hand, the differences are small in the high temperature. (2) The average perspiration of the foot ranges from 44.8±8.0g/mィイD12ィエD1h (22℃) to 55.3±7.1g/mィイD12ィエD1h (28℃) to 57.0±6.1g/mィイD12ィエD1h (34℃) on the bottom of foot. On the top of the foot, it ranges from 18.2±5.1g/mィイD12ィエD1h (22℃) to 26.5±6.3g/mィイD12ィエD1h (28℃) to 46.4±6.8g/mィイD12ィエD1h (34℃). (3) The skin blood flow was almost constant under the conditions of 22℃ and 28℃, while it increased in all subjects when they were exposed to the 34℃ temperature conditions. (4) At both high and low temperature conditions, the humidity inside of the shoes reached as high as 80% when the shoe with low moisture permeability and a greater clothed area was worn. (5) The shape, material and part of the shoe made the difference in the amount of bacteria and degree of cleanliness inside of the shoe. (6) The effects of wearing shoes on sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activities were significant. SNS activities of subjects wearing shoes were higher than those of subjects who were barefoot. The reverse was true of PNS activities. The results suggested that thermo-physiological responses of the foot influenced temperature-regulation of the whole body and heating or cooling of the foot would be an important factor in determining the health and comfort sensation of the whole body.
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Research Products
(10 results)