Since 1987, 22 children with myelomeningocele have been fitted with reciprocating orthoses. The level of the spinal lesions ranged from T10 to L4 and 13 had associated spinal deformities. Twelve of the patients currently use a Reciprocating Gait Orthosis, seven use a Hip Guidance Orthosis or Parawalker, one has progressed to a Knee Ankle Foot Orthosis, one has died and one has been lost to foll...

objectives: this paper describes further improvement and preliminarily evaluation of a novel viscoelastic ankle-foot prosthesis prototype. the objective was to control the ankle hysteresis at slow and normal walking speeds. methods: inspired by the ankle biomechanics, in which the hysteresis differs based on the gait speeds, a manually damping control mechanism imbedded in the prosthesis for ad...

Ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) have been described to have positive effects on the gait biomechanics in stroke patients. The plantarflexion resistance of an AFO is considered important for hemiplegic patients, but the evidence is still limited. The purpose of this case series was to design and evaluate the immediate effect of an articulated AFO on kinematics and kinetics of lower-limb joints in str...

Passive dynamic walking models capture the natural dynamics of stable human-like walking. The passive compass gait (PCG) model, consisting of a point mass and two rigid legs, is among the simplest of such models. The fully passive nature of these models, however, necessitates a sloped ground to recover the energy lost during the ground collisions [1]. A variety of methods have been proposed to ...

In this work, the effects of the artificial ankle joint stiffness on the performance of sit-to-stand movement and upper body effort have been assessed during FES-assisted arm-supported standing up in paraplegic patients. An ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) was developed with the plantar-assisting spring. By changing the spring, the rigidity of the AFO could be adjusted. Experimental results on two com...

A miniature homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI) free-piston engine compressor aimed at an ankle-foot orthosis application is described. Analysis of the human ankle shows that a fluid power source in the neighborhood of 10 W is needed. To account for compressor and actuator inefficiencies, the power output at the engine cylinder is designed to be 30 W. A compact engine compressor packa...

This paper deals with force and impedance control of series elastic actuators for driving the joints of an exoskeleton for lower limbs. Series elastic actuators are devices where elastic components are introduced between the motor’s output and the load. From the deflection of these components, it is possible to measure the force applied to the load and to control it. Also, the mechanical impeda...

PURPOSE Children with cancer are at risk for physical performance limitations. In this pilot study we investigated the feasibility and initial efficacy of an ankle foot orthosis (AFO) in children with non-central nervous system cancer with peripheral weakness. METHODS Participants included children aged 5 to 11 years diagnosed with cancer. Children wore AFOs for 1 cycle of chemotherapy. Pre- ...

[Purpose] This study examined the effects of foot orthosis on the gait ability of college students in their 20s with flat feet. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 20 college students who had been diagnosed with flat feet. The subjects' step time, step length, stride time, stride length, and gait velocity were measured using the VICON Motion System (Vicon, Oxford, UK) prior to and while we...