Contribution of the transverse arch to foot stiffness in humans

Stiffness of the human foot is central to its mechanical function, such as elastic energy storage and propulsion. Its doubly-arched structure, manifested as longitudinal and transverse arches, is thought to underlie the stiff nature. However, previous studies have focused solely on the longitudinal arch, and little is known about whether and how the transverse arch impacts the foot’s stiffness. The common observation that a flexible currency bill significantly stiffens upon curling it transversally underlies our hypothesis that the transverse arch dominates the foot’s stiffness. Through human subject experiments, we show that transversally reinforcing the ball of the foot by means of sports tape can increase the midfoot bending (dorsiflexion) stiffness by 53% on average. Such a result is possible if and only if midfoot bending is mechanically coupled with splaying of the distal metatarsal heads, thus engaging the distal transverse ligament. Using a simplified foot model, we elucidate a mechanism for such coupling to arise because of the transverse arch; namely transverse curvature couples sagittal plane bending with stretching along the transverse direction. We therefore conclude that the previously ignored distal metatarsal transverse ligaments, by way of the transverse arch, likely underlie the midfoot’s elastic response by an amount comparable to or surpassing the plantar fascia, the windlass mechanism and other longitudinal tissues. Our findings impact current practice in clinical, sports and evolutionary biomechanics that focus solely on the longitudinal arch and on two-dimensional sagittal plane mechanics.