We constructed a powered ankle-foot orthosis for human walking with a novel myoelectric controller. The orthosis included a carbon fiber and polypropylene shell, a metal hinge joint, and two artificial pneumatic muscles. Soleus electromyography (EMG) activated the artificial plantar flexor and inhibited the artificial dorsiflexor. Tibialis anterior EMG activated the artificial dorsiflexor. We c...

The performance and the satisfaction of the patient were quantitatively compared with the use of the volar dorsal orthosis in order to position the spastic hand. Thirty patients wearing the orthosis for eight hours daily were evaluated by the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure and the box and blocks test, for a three-month period. Five activities were selected (among daily life activitie...

To investigate the effects induced by wearing an orthosis during the rehabilitation process, 23 ankle sprain patients (degrees I and II) were evaluated in three conditions (reference, with an elastic compression stocking and with an orthosis), 14 h, 10 and 30 days on average after their injury and compared with those of 30 age-matched healthy individuals. The patients were tested with separate ...

[Purpose] This study investigated whether the toe-spread-out exercise affects the hallux valgus angle, the cross-sectional area of the abductor hallucis muscle, and the hallux valgus angle during active abduction. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-four subjects with hallux valgus were randomly assigned to orthosis and orthosis plus toe-spread-out exercise groups. The orthosis group wore the orthosi...

Ankle-foot orthoses are commonly used in the treatment of spastic cerebral palsy to hold the foot in a position conductive to a more functional gait. This study, utilizing quantitative biomechanical techniques, evaluates the effects of a rigid ankle-foot orthosis and a hinged ankle-foot orthosis on spastic cerebral palsy gait. The subject was a 4.5 year old female diagnosed as spastic diplegic ...

STUDY DESIGN A prospective study; 2-group design. OBJECTIVE This study aims to assess the time response of scoliotic spines to orthotic intervention using clinical ultrasound. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Patients with moderate adolescent idiopathic scoliosis are generally advised orthotic treatment. However, the time to reach maximum correction after donning spinal orthosis or the time to re...

The authors have developed a knee-ankle-foot orthosis with a joint unit that controls knee movements using a microcomputer (Intelligent Orthosis). The Intelligent Orthosis was applied to normal subjects and patients, and gait analysis was performed. In the gait cycle, the ratio of the stance phase to the swing phase was less in gait with the knee locked using a knee-ankle-foot orthosis than in ...

PURPOSE The effects of lumbosacral and spinal orthoses on low back pain and gait are not exactly clear. We previously developed a trunk orthosis with joints providing resistive force on low back load to decrease such load, and confirmed its positive effects during level walking in healthy young adults. Therefore, we aimed to determine the efficacy of this trunk orthosis during level walking in ...

Stance control knee orthoses (SCOs) have become very popular recently. However, there is little information regarding opinions of actual orthosis users. The purpose of this study was to quantify the users' opinions of a SCO, and see whether factors found important for knee orthoses in past studies hold true for a stance control orthosis as well. A standardized survey was employed as part of a l...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the newly designed multi joint ankle-foot orthosis on the gait and dynamic balance of stroke patients having foot drop. [Subjects and Methods] This study was conducted with 15 subjects who were diagnosed with stroke. 10-meter walk test, functional reaching test and timed up and go test were measured after each subjects wore a p...