Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a damage to spinal cord that results in loss of function, mobility and sensation below the level at which the spinal cord has been injured. The incidence of this disorder varies between 12.7 and 59 new cases per million each year (1). These subjects used various orthoses to improve their abilities to stand and walk, such as mechanical orthoses, functional electrical ...

The loss of the grasp function in cervical spinal cord injured (SCI) patients leads to life-long dependency on caregivers and to a tremendous decrease of the quality of life. This article introduces the novel non-invasive modular hybrid neuro-orthosis OrthoJacket for the restoration of the restricted or completely lost hand and arm functions in high tetraplegic SCI individuals. The primary goal...

A retrospective study was conducted to analyse videokymographic fi ndings from patients who underwent vertical frontolateral laryngectomy with reconstruction using a sternohyoid muscle fl ap. Overall, 22 patients with T1b and T2 glottic tumours and more than one year of follow-up were studied. Two experienced observers analysed the recorded videokymographic data. A cross-sectional descriptive d...

Persons with quadriceps muscle weakness are often prescribed a knee-ankle-foot orthosis that locks the knee in full extension during both stance and swing phases of gait. Locking the knee results in abnormal gait patterns characterized by hip hiking and leg circumduction during swing. The stance-control knee-ankle-foot orthosis (SCKAFO), a new type of orthosis, has emerged that permits free kne...

Muscular rigidity and atrophy caused by long-term underactivity usually lead to foot drop, strephenopodia, foot extorsion or some other complications for the lower limb movement disorders or lower limb surgery sufferers. The ankle-foot orthosis can help patients conduct the right ankle motion mode training, inhibit spasm and prevent ankle complications. In this paper, a quasi-passive 3 DOFs ank...

STUDY DESIGN Controlled laboratory study using a randomized crossover design. OBJECTIVE To determine the immediate effect of 3 common types of orthoses (2 elbow counterforce orthoses and a wrist splint) on grip strength in individuals with lateral epicondylosis. BACKGROUND Lateral epicondylosis is a common cause of pain and upper limb dysfunction. Although the effectiveness of orthoses has ...

Robotic technology is gradually becoming commonplace in the medical sector and in the service of patients. Medical conditions that have benefited from significant technological development include stroke, for which rehabilitation with robotic devices is administered, and surgery assisted by robots. Robotic devices have also been proposed for assistance of movement disorders. Pathological tremor...

A multi-adjustable torticollis orthosis is described for the post-operative bracing of patients after surgical correction of congenital muscular torticollis. The orthosis can be put on in the early post-operative period and the head and neck position can be maintained in the corrected, and later over-corrected position by the built-in multi-adjustable joint-mechanism. The details of the manufac...

PURPOSE Postural alignment of elderly people becomes poor due to aging, possibly leading to low-back pain and spinal deformity. Although there are several interventions for treating these conditions, no previous study has reported the effectiveness of a spinal orthosis or lumbosacral orthosis (LSO) in healthy elderly people without specific spinal deformity. We therefore developed a trunk ortho...

BACKGROUND In stroke and multiple sclerosis patients, gait is frequently hampered by a reduced ability to push-off with the ankle caused by weakness of the plantar-flexor muscles. To enhance ankle push-off and to decrease the high energy cost of walking, spring-like carbon-composite Ankle Foot Orthoses are frequently prescribed. However, it is unknown what Ankle Foot Orthoses stiffness should b...