A new approach to patient analysis for orthotic prescription. I. The lower extremity.

1 Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics, Associate Director of Rehabilitation, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Fla. 33152. 2 Director, Prosthetic-Orthotic Center, Northwestern University Medical Center, Chicago, Ill. 60611. 3 Orthotic Division, Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis, Ind. 46207. There is liittle question that the field of orthotics has taken a back seat to prosthetics in modern times, and perhaps for good reason. The needs of the amputee are more immediate and obvious, and the wars of the past thirty years have yielded untold numbers of young men in their prime whose productivity depended upon satisfactory functional restoration of their missing limbs. Medicine, engineering, and the prosthetic profession have responded to the needs of the amputee through extensive research and development, widespread educational programs, improved fabrication and fitting techniques, and better delivery of services. The field of orthotics remains in comparative disarray with more limited, though no less sophisticated, research activities, few educational endeavors, and little improvement upon local fabrication and delivery services over the past fifty years.