It's Fitting: Custom-Carved Shoe Inserts

The days of instant custom-fitted shoes are still to come, but the next best thing - instant computer-generated orthotics - are already here.

An orthotic is a custom-made shoe insert intended to accommodate specific foot shapes. They're usually made of a rubber or plastic compound molded to the shape of the bottoms of the feet.

Many athletes and people with foot problems already use orthotics, and some experts speculate that orthotics will soon come with athletic shoes.

Shane Hayes, a Seattle pedorthist (certified professional shoe fitter), last fall set up the Northwest's first computerized orthotic-making system. The system can mill a pair of custom orthotics in about 12 minutes.

``There's no question about it, this is the direction things are going,'' said Hayes, who believes the computerized system will have a ``revolutionizing'' effect on orthotics and footwear in general.

Hayes' system, called Amfit, has a 21st century look and is based somewhat on the Lenscrafters concept. Lenscrafters is an eyeglass retailer that manufactures glasses in the store, which cuts the waiting time to almost nothing.

The Amfit system, developed by Tony Tadin, a San Jose, Calif., inventor, is available to any shoe-fitter for about $25,000. Other pedorthists in the Northwest said they are waiting to see if there are any bugs to be worked out before making the investment.

The traditional way to make orthotics has been to make a plaster cast of the feet, and later shape an orthotic from the cast. All the work is done by hand. Customers usually waited one to four weeks for the finished product.

With Amfit, the customer stands on a platform that uses sensors to measure the contours of the foot. The information is fed to a computer that displays a colorized imprint of each foot. The imprints look like mini-topographical maps, and depict different depths with different colors.

The computer then passes the information to a fully automated milling machine that carves the orthotics. The process takes about six minutes per orthotic. Finishing touches take another 10 to 15 minutes.

Shane's business, Shane's Shoes and Comfort Orthotics, with offices on Capitol Hill and North Seattle, began using the system early this year.

A first pair of orthotics costs $135; a second pair costs $105.

Some people in the footwear industry, like Mel Curtiss, a Burien pedorthist, believe there will someday be a new kind of business: a mix between a shoe retailer and sports-medicine clinic.