176 results about "Plantar flexion" patented technology

An Active Ankle Foot Orthosis (AAFO) is provided where the impedance of an orthotic joint is modulated throughout the walking cycle to treat ankle foot gait pathology, such as drop foot gait. During controlled plantar flexion, a biomimetic torsional spring control is applied where orthotic joint stiffness is actively adjusted to minimize forefoot collisions with the ground. Throughout late stance, joint impedance is minimized so as not to impede powered plantar flexion movements, and during the swing phase, a torsional spring-damper (PD) control lifts the foot to provide toe clearance. To assess the clinical effects of variable-impedance control, kinetic and kinematic gait data were collected on two drop foot participants wearing the AAFO. It has been found that actively adjusting joint impedance reduces the occurrence of slap foot, allows greater powered plantar flexion, and provides for less kinematic difference during swing when compared to normals.

An Active Ankle Foot Orthosis (AAFO) is provided where the impedance of an orthotic joint is modulated throughout the walking cycle to treat ankle foot gait pathology, such as drop foot gait. During controlled plantar flexion, a biomimetic torsional spring control is applied where orthotic joint stiffness is actively adjusted to minimize forefoot collisions with the ground. Throughout late stance, joint impedance is minimized so as not to impede powered plantar flexion movements, and during the swing phase, a torsional spring-damper (PD) control lifts the foot to provide toe clearance. To assess the clinical effects of variable-impedance control, kinetic and kinematic gait data were collected on two drop foot participants wearing the AAFO. It has been found that actively adjusting joint impedance reduces the occurrence of slap foot, allows greater powered plantar flexion, and provides for less kinematic difference during swing when compared to normals.

The invention relates to a parallel multi-degree-of-freedom ankle joint rehabilitation trainer which comprises a thigh support seat, a thigh support seat inner rod, a thigh support seat outer rod, a calf jointing sleeve, a pelma supporting plate, a base plate, a first kinematics limb, a second kinematics limb and a third kinematics limb, wherein the lengths of the first kinematics limb, the second kinematics limb and the third kinematics limb are adjustable, the upper ends of the first kinematics limb, the second kinematics limb and the third kinematics limb are connected with the pelma supporting plate through a spherical hinge, and the lower ends of the first kinematics limb, the second kinematics limb and the third kinematics limb are connected with the base plate through a hook joint.In the invention, a 3-UPS / S-shaped parallel mechanism is adopted, the ankle joint rehabilitation trainer has three rotational degrees of freedom, and the rotational center is an ankle joint, and three types of movements of ankle back stretching and plantar flexion, introversion and extroversion, and internal rotation and external rotation are realized; the ankle joint rehabilitation trainer of the invention has a rigid structure and high carrying capacity, and can relieve the burden of the impaired joint effectively; and the ankle joint rehabilitation trainer invention ensures that the spherical surface movement of the ankle joint can be simulated actually, and has high bio-imitability.

A low cost foldable orthosis for the treatment of foot and ankle conditions including plantar facitis and tendonitis, the orthosis is a foldable molded portion manufactured in a variety of incremental sizes, having a generally U-shaped cross-sectional configuration and a flat foot bed, interconnected by a hinge. This device includes a variety of spacers which enable the angle of covered by a soft fabric covering, and using a removable and interchangeable foot bed wedge insert permitting the angle of dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, inversion and eversion to be varied.

A custom articulated ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) system is disclosed that is formed on a cast of the wearer's foot. It has an adjustably tightenable calf section hingedly connected to an adjustably tightenable foot section. It is made of thermally formable plastic sheet, is lined inside and outside, and is padded inside. The brace permits dorsal / plantar flexion while supporting the ankle against supination and pronation. The apparatus and methods of manufacture are disclosed.

The invention relates to a parallel, joint-type and walk-help ectoskeleton artificial limb applicable to paralytic, which pertains to a rehabilitation engineering technical field and comprises a hip joint, a knee joint and an ankle joint which are connected in sequence to form the ectoskeleton artificial limb structure of human crura. The hip joint comprises a single-degree-of-freedom drive mechanism and a harmonic reducer with a larger drive ratio which can output high torque; the knee joint adopts a four-bar mechanism, worm wheel, a worm and gear mechanism to realize transmission; flection of the ectoskeleton artificial limb is kept by taking advantage of the self-locking property of the worm wheel and worm and simultaneously, the worm wheel and worm can deliver larger torque; the ankle joint adopts a 3-RPS parallel mechanism with three degrees of freedom, which comprises an upper platform, three active branched guide rods, a lower platform and a thenar support part so as to realize dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, inversion and eversion. The artificial limb of the invention has compact structure, large slew range for every joint and can meet the requirements of actual movements of human body.

An ankle control system, having a form-fitting sock, a semi-rigid support member, a lever motion stabilizing strap, a stirrup strap, and collar. The form-fitting sock has opposing medial and lateral sides, a foot portion having an arch portion, and an ankle portion having a vertical Achilles tendon portion. The semi-rigid support member is connected to the sock and has at least one slot providing flexibility to contour over an ankle as pressure is exerted on the support member. The lever motion stabilizing strap acts as a lasso to restrict inversion, eversion, and plantar flexion / inversion through the lever action of the foot with respect to the ankle. The stirrup strap is adjustably attachable to the sock.

An automated therapy table is disclosed. The automated therapy table may have various support portions capable of independent automatic actuation of a person's lower extremities through passive exercise. The automated therapy table allows a patient to perform leg elevation, approximation / decompression of the leg, internal / external rotation of the leg, ankle plantar flexion / dorsiflexion, and foot inversion / eversion movements. During each movement, the patient may be instructed to think in the direction of the movement. It has been found that doing so helps increase the healing effects. The disclosed table and method may be beneficial for patients after certain operations as well as for those suffering from various forms of debilitating illnesses, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Charcot-Marie-Tooth, and Muscular Dystrophy.

The invention belongs to the field of rehabilitation medical devices, particularly relating to a rehabilitation training robot for lower limbs. The robot consists of a support mechanism, an incline system, a lower limb training mechanism and a control system. The lower limb training mechanism comprises a hip joint mechanism and an ankle joint mechanism; and the ankle joint mechanism consists of a screw nut structure for realizing linear reciprocating motion and a crank four-bar mechanism for realizing plantar flexion and dorsal flexure. The hip joint mechanism and the ankle joint mechanism are combined to finish different training tasks by fully using the principle of the four-bar mechanism and drive the lower limbs of patients to generate the training method consisting of different training modes, training tracks and exciting ways. The training modes include active training, passive training, resistance training and the like; the exciting ways for training the lower limbs include hip joint flexion and extension exciting, foot reciprocating exciting, ankle joint toe flexion and dorsal flexure exciting and combination exciting; the robot moves flexibly, is stable and reliable, has simple appearance and is easy to be accepted by the patients.

An improved article of footwear and a related method of manufacture are provided. The article of footwear can include a sole construction including a midsole and an outsole that are configured to promote the natural motion of the wearer's foot and conformance to the ground. The sole construction can additionally include an insole construction having enhanced flexibility in the forefoot region to further accommodate dorsi-flexion and plantar-flexion of the wearer's foot. The related method of manufacture provides the assembly of an article of footwear having these and other features, which can be suitable for athletic wear, outdoor wear and casual wear by adults, adolescents and small children.

The invention provides active and passive type ankle joint rehabilitative apparatus which uses orthogonal coordinates and three degrees of freedom to respectively achieve dorsal stretch and plantar flexion, inversion and eversion, and intorsion and extorsion motions of ankle joints. Every degree of freedom is respectively driven by a motor so that single degree of freedom motions of ankle joints are achieved and the linkage of three motor can achieve complex motions of ankle joints. Force sensors are arranged on pedals of the ankle joint rehabilitative apparatus. During a rehabilitation process, foot motions of a trainee are controlled by detecting stresses of the pedals so that active and passive type ankle trainings are achieved, besides, stress safety protections are performed and secondary injuries to the trainee are avoided. The active and passive type ankle joint rehabilitative apparatus meets rehabilitative training requirements of single degree of freedom and multiple degrees of freedom motions of ankle joints with a simple and reliable structure. Intelligent control, effect evaluation and intelligent protection are achieved due to an adoption of force sensors so that effects and safety of rehabilitative trainings of a patient are guaranteed.

An exemplary shoe support system is provided to facilitate a support of an ankle of a foot. The support system can include a sole inliner, a coupling, a back inliner, and an upper. The coupling allows movement between the sole inliner to the back inliner, while the upper adjustably secures the sole inliner and back inliner to the foot. The upper, the sole inliner, the coupling, and the back inliner are operable to resist lateral movement of the ankle while permitting dorsiflexion and plantar flexion movement in the foot, and can be configured for integration within a shoe or serve as the shoe. In another configuration, the support system can include a cover, which surrounds the upper, the sole inliner, the coupling, and the back inliner. Additionally, a biasing member can be incorporated with the coupling to urge a predetermined angle between the sole inliner and back inliner.

The invention discloses an auxiliary training tool for comprehensive rehabilitation of cerebral palsy. The auxiliary training tool comprises a chassis, a lower limb exoskeleton device and a suspension device, wherein the chassis comprises universal casters with the locking function, a lower chassis, an upper chassis and an exoskeleton device inclination adjusting mechanism; the lower limb exoskeleton device is fixedly mounted on the chassis, and can realize rehabilitation training such as flexion / extension, adduction / abduction and pronation / supination of hip joints, flexion / extension of the knee joint, and dorsi-flexion / plantar-flexion, strephenopodia / strephexopodia and pronation ans supination of feet; the suspension device is fixedly mounted on the chassis, and plays a role in slinging, weight reduction and upper body posture correction of paitents. The auxiliary training tool can help patients with cerebral palsy to correct the abnormal posture of lower limbs, carry out the rehabilitation training on all joints of the lower limbs, promotes the development of all the joints of the lower limbs, and gradually establishes the normal standing and walking functions.

The invention discloses an ankle joint rehabilitation training device. The ankle joint rehabilitation training device comprises a supporting mechanism, a training mechanism and a detecting device, wherein the supporting mechanism comprises a base, a supporting frame, a footrest supporting seat and a footrest, the training mechanism comprises an inversion / eversion moving platform, a dorsiflexion / plantar flexion moving platform and an intorsion / extorsion moving platform, and the detecting device comprises three torque sensors mounted on the three platforms respectively and three encoders mounted on motors for power transmission. The ankle joint rehabilitation training device has the advantages that the ankle joint rehabilitation training device is capable of achieving three-degree-of-freedom rehabilitation training of the ankle joint of a human body, simulates operation techniques of therapists so as to provide passive training for a patient, and can be used for the patient to perform personal movement training under the specified conditions of doctors; by the aid of the torque sensors and the encoders, the ankle joint rehabilitation training device is capable of acquiring torque and movement position information of the patient during training and integrates rehabilitation training with a patient movement information detection function so as to provide bases for a rehabilitation evaluation system.

A system and method for comfortably restraining a child's feet undergoing the Ponseti method for treatment of clubfeet, using a foot and ankle abduction orthosis, where the improvement includes a shoe with a single piece sole and quick release slot with an adjustable hinged heel support member, as well as having a soft pliable area around the feet and ankle support with lateral support bands to limit foot plantar flexion.

In a method and a system of providing walking assistance and / or therapy to a person with impaired gait, electrical stimulation is applied to muscles of a leg that effect dorsiflexion and plantar flexion of the ankle of the leg. The timing of the electrical stimulation is determined from gait event signals developed from sensors under the heel and forepart of the foot of the other leg. In the method and the system, the electrical stimulation is enabled when the person is sensed to be active and is disabled when the person is sensed to be inactive. The method and the system are applicable to persons having unilateral or bilateral impairment of their walking ability.

The invention relates to a parallel structure type ankle joint rehabilitation training device, which comprises a thigh support, an inner thigh support rod, an outer thigh support rod, a shank connecting sleeve, a foot support plate, a base plate, a flexible first movement branch chain, a flexible second movement branch chain and a third movement branch chain. The upper ends of the first movement branch chain and the second movement branch chain are connected with the foot support plate through ball hinges, and the lower ends of the first movement branch chain and the second movement branch chain are connected with the base plate through hook hinges; and one end of the third movement branch chain can rotate around the extension direction of the third movement branch chain, and the upper end and the lower end of the third movement branch chain are respectively connected with the foot support plate and the base plate through hook hinges. The 2-UPS / UCU / S type parallel structure is adopted, three degrees of freedom of rotation can be provided, the center of rotation is the ankle joint, the dorsiflexion / plantar flexion, inward turning / outward turning and inward rotation / outward rotation of the ankle joint can be truly realized, and the bionic performance is good. Moreover, the device has a symmetric structure, and the movement can be realized easily.

The invention relates to an ankle rehabilitation training device with single degree of freedom, comprising a stand. The ankle rehabilitation training device with single degree of freedom is characterized in that a motor-driven mechanism is mounted in the middle bottom of the stand, a rotating shaft driven by the motor-driven mechanism is vertically arranged on the upper surface of the stand, and the upper end of the rotating shaft is fixedly connected with the middle of an inclined disc. The device provided by the invention only has one degree of freedom, the rotating shaft rotates to drive amoving platform to continuously wing relative to an axis, and feet of a patient are placed on the moving platform so as to realize the plantar flexion, the back extension, the inwards turning and outwards turning motions of the ankle joints, and meanwhile, the device also has the advantages of simple structure, convenience in control, small size and low price and is suitable for home use.

The invention relates to an orthopedic foot device with a connection part for the lower leg, a swivel joint (5) acting as an ankle joint (7) by means of which a foot part (10) is rotatably connected in the direction of dorsiflexion and the direction of plantar flexion to the connection part, with a damping arrangement (17) influencing the rotational movement about the swivel joint (5), with a sensor arrangement for detecting action states of the orthopedic foot part, and with a control unit connected to the sensor arrangement which controls the damping arrangement (17). The object is achieved by the fact that the sensor arrangement has an ankle-angle sensor which measures the angle between the connection part and the foot part (10), an absolute-angle sensor (20) relating to the plumb line and a moments sensor (21) for determining the torque on the ankle joint (7) or a force effecting a torque on the ankle joint (7).

An ankle brace is configured to provide lateral and / or medial support of an ankle joint between the leg and foot and broadly includes an upper brace anchor secured to the leg above malleoli of the ankle joint and a lower brace anchor secured below the foot. The anchors are interconnected by a stabilizing strap that is tensioned between the anchors and serves to restrict inversion and / or eversion of the foot. The anchors and strap are also dimensioned and configured to permit dorsiflexion and plantar flexion of the foot.

A device for treatment of plantar fasciitis and / or Achilles tendonitis that comprises:(a) a calf strap removably engagable to the calf of a leg;(b) a foot assembly removably engagable to the foot of the leg such that when the device is worn the assembly can be positioned proximate to the ball of the foot intermediate to the midfoot and forefoot areas of the foot to secure it to the foot; and(c) a substantially inelastic tension member connectable between the calf strap and the foot assembly in a tensioned mannersuch that when the device is worn the plantarflexion of the ankle is limited such that the plantar surface of the foot is held in a neutral to slight dorsiflection.Also, a method of treating plantar fasciitis and / or Achilles tendonitis that comprises applying a such a device so as to maintain the plantar fascia and other structures on the plantar surface of the foot in a neutral to slight dorsiflection.

An automated therapy table is disclosed. The automated therapy table may have various support portions capable of independent automatic actuation of a person's lower extremities through passive exercise. The automated therapy table allows a patient to perform leg elevation, approximation / decompression of the leg, internal / external rotation of the leg, ankle plantar flexion / dorsiflexion, and foot inversion / eversion movements. During each movement, the patient may be instructed to think in the direction of the movement. It has been found that doing so helps increase the healing effects. The disclosed table and method may be beneficial for patients after certain operations as well as for those suffering from various forms of debilitating illnesses, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Charcot-Marie-Tooth, and Muscular Dystrophy.

The invention relates to a power below-knee prosthesis-based gait recognition method. The method comprises the following steps that: 1) a sensor is arranged at a corresponding position of a power below-knee prosthesis; 2) when H is equal to 1, and simultaneously FH is greater than FPH and the derivative of theta ankle is less than 0, an ankle joint enters a passive plantar flexion stage; 3) when T is equal to 1, the passive plantar flexion stage is finished; the ankle joint enters a passive dorsiflexion stage, and simultaneously the ankle joint rotates forwards until the ankle joint reaches amaximal forward angle or H is equal to 0; 4) when H is equal to 0, Tankle is greater than tau pp, and the derivative of the theta ankle is less than 0, the ankle joint enters an active plantar flexion stage; 5) when theta toe is less than 0, a toe joint enters an active dorsiflexion stage; 6) when FT is greater than FPT, the toe joint enters the active plantar flexion stage and simultaneously thetoe joint starts to rotate downwards; and 7) when the ankle joint and the toe joint reach a specified angle or T is equal to 0, the active plantar flexion stage is finished, and a foot leaves the ground to enter a swinging stage; and in the swinging stage, the ankle joint and the toe joint recover to a balance state respectively. The invention provides a new gait recognition method in which a power ankle joint and a power toe joint are involved at the same time.

The invention discloses an ankle joint active / passive training instrument, and relates to medical rehabilitation training instruments. The ankle joint active / passive training instrument comprises a base, a pedal assembly, a supporting shelf, a servo driver and a push rod driver, and a patient can be driven to conduct ankle joint driven rehabilitation training of multiple degrees of freedom like adduction / abduction, dorsiflexion / plantar flexion, and introversion / extroversion. When the patient has certain muscle force, the exercise strength of the patient is detected through a pressure sensor and a torque sensor arranged on the pedal assembly, and the patient conducts ankle joint driving rehabilitation training of multiple degrees of freedom through the force of himself / herself with assistance provided by the servo driver and the push rod driver. Meanwhile, three angle sensors, pressure sensors and torque sensors are arranged at three degrees of freedom where the angle joint moves, and the movement range and strength of the ankle joint of the patient can be measured; by connecting a computer, the servo motor and the push rod driver are controlled to make the pedal assembly move, andfoot movement tracks are displayed on the computer in real time; meanwhile, game interaction training can also be conducted, and the training effect is obviously improved.

A prosthetic foot characterized by an easily exchangeable auxiliary ankle member demountably attached to forefoot and sole portions, which are in turn demountably and interchangeably connected. The forefoot, heel and auxiliary ankle portions are fabricated from polymer impregnated and encapsulated laminates, including such laminates as carbon fibers and / or fiberglass or synthetic fibers such as Kevlar. The easily demountable connection of the auxiliary ankle permits interchangeability thereof to match the activity schedule of the wearer utilizing the prosthetic foot without the necessity of frequent visits to the prosthetist. A compressible member between the forefoot member and the sole member, and function blocks located between the various members provide additional adjustability. The orientation of the auxiliary ankle member and compressible member also allows for increased plantar flexion.

The invention belongs to the field of exoskeleton robots and in particular relates to an actively and passively hybrid-driven lower limb-assisted exoskeleton robot and a control method. The robot comprises a waist-hip bracket and two thigh mechanisms. The waist-hip bracket is passively driven and comprises an adjustable waist rack and a hip joint assisted coil spring mechanism. The hip joint assisted coil spring mechanism achieves flexion / extension of two hip joints. Each thigh mechanism comprises a knee joint driving motor, a harmonic reducer, a knee joint angle sensor, an ankle joint spherical hinge and a foot. The knee joint driving motor and the harmonic reducer achieve flexion / extension of the knee joint. The ankle joint spherical hinge achieves dorsal extension / plantar flexion, introversion / extroversion and rotation of the ankle joint. The thigh waist-hip joint achieves passive drive of the hip joint through the coil spring mechanism and active drive of the knee joint through themotor. On the premise of guaranteeing a loading capacity of a wearer, the complexity of a lower limb-assisted exoskeleton robot system is reduced, and the lower limb-assisted exoskeleton robot systemis simple in structure and easy to control.

The invention relates to a parallel type ankle rehabilitation training apparatus. The parallel type ankle rehabilitation training apparatus comprises a thigh support base, a thigh support base internal rod, a thigh support base external rod, a shank connection sleeve, a sole support plate, a base plate, a first retractable moving branch chain, a second retractable moving branch chain, a fixed lifting lug, a sole support plate lifting lug and a rope, wherein static frames of the first and second moving branch chains are fixedly connected with the base plate; retractable ends of both the first and second moving branch chains are connected with the sole support plate by spherical hinges; and the fixed lifting lug and the sole support plate lifting lug are connected by the rope. By adopting a 2-PSS / S type parallel mechanism, two rotational degrees of freedom can be realized, and as an ankle is the rotation center of the apparatus, movements such as back extension or plantar flexion, and introversion or extroversion of the ankle can be really done. The parallel type ankle rehabilitation training apparatus has a high-rigidity structure and high bearing capacity, and can effectively reduce the burden of a damaged ankle; main movements of the ankle can be really simulated by using a simple structure, so that the bio-imitability is high; and a driving link is static, and the dynamic property is high.