Swedish custom-made footbed manufacturer Ortolab showed off a new model at ispo Winter 2010, which started in Munich on February 7.

The company is calling its new concept the Arch Flex System (AFS) footbed and says it can support the foot through its natural motion, strengthening the its innate shock-absorption qualities.

A foot consists of 26 bones, 32 muscles and tendons and 107 ligaments, Ortolabs pointed out to ispo visitors. It has two main arches: the midfoot arch (which runs length-wise) and the forefoot arch (the traverse arch, which is not visible from the side). Together with the heel pad (the fatty tissue below the heel), they provide the foot with natural shock absorption. When the foot makes contact with the ground, the arches flatten, and when the foot is lifted, they resume their original shape.
Considering that all the body weight is put on top of this really complex, moving structure, it’s amazing that it works at all, the Swedish company observed.

Since the mid-1980s Ortolab has made more than 250,000 individual custom footbeds, with satisfied users ranging from patients with severe medical problems to top athletes in many different sports. The difference with AFS is that, with the new concept, the company has attempted to embed the know-how, experience and craftsmanship of skilled orthopaedic technicians into a pre-fabricated footbed, making the functionality available to a wider range of people, with a dedicated footbed for each size, and three arch-height options for each size.