61 results about "Subtalar joint" patented technology

A component system of footwear corrective alignment insoles provides adjustment of the alignment of a human foot based upon evaluation and measurement of structural anomalies in the foot. A subtalar joint goniometer measures the angular alignment of the foot with a patient's leg properly inclined with respect thereto. A database contains data with selected relationships between the degree of a patient's foot pronation and supination and a variety of corrective pads for use with an insole for correcting pronation and supination. The foot pronation and supination is corrected by first measuring a patient's foot pronation and supination, comparing the measured pronation or supination with a database that correlates degrees of pronation and supination with a variety of corrective pads for use with a corrective alignment insole, selecting corrective pads from the database that correspond to the measured pronation or supination, and mounting the selected corrective pads to a base insole.

The invention is an ankle derotation and subtalar stabilization system that incorporates a pivoting adjustable-tension oblique tether strap that is anchored to both a forefoot component and leg component, and that is contiguous with pivoting adjustable-tension derotation strap that passes behind the leg and that is secured to a leg component. The system restrains oppositely directed rotation between the foot and the leg, and can actually after the normal biochemical relationship in a manner that produces foot rotation in a direction opposite to that which is normally coupled with leg rotation, without restriction of upward and downward foot movement. The primary application for the system is restraint of excessive subtalar joint inversion, leg external rotation, and anterolateral rotary displacement of the talus, but it can also be configured to restrain subtalar eversion and leg internal rotation through its incorporation into the structure of an ankle orthosis or shoe.

This invention provides for individualized adjustment to a user's specific needs through the use of multiple variable size, thickness and rigidity components that can be placed or integrated into an insole. The current invention is an insole that incorporates, but is not limited to: (1) a base layer with various depressions, (2) a metatarsal dome, (3) a first metatarsal head pad, (2) a forefoot wedge to create a pronation moment around the midfoot joint, (3) a heel cushion, (4) a heel lift to raise the heel area of the foot, (5) a rearfoot wedge to increase the supination moments around the subtalar joint, and (6) an arch support of a specific stiffness or with varying stiffness.

A prosthetic foot is disclosed for improving the gait and comfort qualities of the amputee that participates in walking, running and jumping activities. The prosthetic foot allows hindfoot triplanar motion and has hindfoot, midfoot and forefoot dynamic response, and midfoot and forefoot biplanar motion capabilities. An ankle joint and a subtalar joint provided in the hindfoot permit closed kinetic chain motion of the foot. The ankle and subtalar joints are preferably formed integrally with the hindfoot by respective struts of resilient material of the hindfoot. An arch in the midfoot creates frontal and sagittal plane motion capabilities. The forefoot includes at least one expansion joint hole extending therethrough between dorsal and plantar surfaces. An expansion joint extends forward from the hole to the anterior edge of the forefoot to form plural expansion struts that create improved biplanar motion capability of the forefoot. Concavities and convexities on the surface of the hindfoot, midfoot and forefoot encourage desired motions and motion directions so that the foot functions and feels like a normal foot to the amputee. The forefoot, midfoot and hindfoot portions can be inexpensively formed from a single piece of resilient material such as a semi-rigid plastic as by molding or machining.

An apparatus and method for determining contours of a patient's foot. The apparatus includes an alignment section that orientates the foot relative to an optical imaging section. The alignment section includes at least one support member located proximate a focal length of the imaging section, that engages the plantar surface substantially only in the immediate area of the fifth metatarsal head of the foot. The support generates a dorsally-directed load that locks the midtarsal joint. The alignment section further includes a heel stirrup and a laser beam or other reference line for aligning the second metatarsal head with the distal one-third of the lower leg, to place the subtalar joint in a neutral condition. The foot is thus suspended in space such that the imaging section is able to obtain an accurate measurement of the plantar surface without distortion of the soft tissues or bone structure of the foot.

A forefoot wedge insert, and methods for forming same, are described for a piece of footwear, such as but not limited to ice skating boots, or a shoe, such as but not limited to exercise, therapeutic, or physiological footwear, for correcting a pronation and/or supination condition wherein the insert permits the subtalar joint of the affected foot to be placed and/or maintained in a neutral position. In this manner, the insert can provide the corrected foot with adequate balance relative to the skate blade during typical ice skating maneuvers. Also described is a skating boot, or shoe, having an adjustable toe cap portion that is selectively operable to be raised up to accommodate the uplifted forefoot portion of the wearer when the forefoot wedge insert is being used.

The invention discloses a completely passive both-foot walking machine with bionic ankle and subtalar joints, comprising a hip assembly, leg assemblies, ankle joint assemblies, subtalar joint assemblies, a left foot, a right foot and toe assemblies, wherein each leg assembly is arranged between the hip assembly and the ankle joint assembly, and a main body of the walking machine is constructed; each subtalar joint assembly is arranged between the ankle joint assembly and a foot, the toe assemblies are distributed at two sides of each foot. Foot joints disclosed by the invention comprise the ankle joint assemblies and the subtalar joint assemblies, the foot joints of the walking machine are designed by simulating the physiological angles of the ankle joints and the subtalar joints of a human in the space. Meanwhile, toes can realize an elastic start in the walking process under the effect of springs. According to the walking machine disclosed by the invention, the beneficial effects of the optimal walking energy efficiency, improvement of walking stability and naturality of the both-foot walking machine are achieved according to the passive walking principle and the introduction of the bionic ankle and subtalar joints.

An apparatus and method for determining contours of a patient's foot ankle and lower leg. The apparatus includes an alignment structure that orientates the foot for imaging. The alignment structure includes at least one support member that engages the plantar surface of the foot substantially only in the immediate area of the lateral metatarsal heads of the foot, preferably the fifth metatarsal head. The support generates a dorsally-directed force that locks the midtarsal joint. The alignment structure further includes a saddle that engages the rearfoot and a laser beam for aligning the second metatarsal head with the distal one-third of the lower leg to place the subtalar joint in a neutral condition. The foot is thus suspended in space such that imaging is able to produce an accurate measurement of the subject areas of the foot, ankle and lower leg without distortion of the soft tissues or bone structure.

A measurement system is described for determining the varus and/or valgus angles of a pronating and/or supinating foot, especially when the subtalar joint of the foot is placed and/or maintained in a neutral position. When the user's foot is maintained in the subtalar joint neutral position, it causes a platform member to rotate relative to a correspondingly shaped depression formed in a base portion such that a top surface of the platform member is no longer in a substantially coplanar relationship with a top surface of the base portion. When this occurs, a bottom surface of the platform member is exposed. As a result, indicia are exposed which correspond to degree markings disposed on the bottom surface of the platform member. The degree markings indicate the angle that corresponds to the varus and/or valgus angles, and thus the amount of pronation and/or supination, of the user's foot.

A measurement system is described for determining the varus and/or valgus angles of a pronating and/or supinating foot, especially when the subtalar joint of the foot is placed and/or maintained in a neutral position. When the user's foot is maintained in the subtalar joint neutral position, it causes a substantially hemispherically shaped platform member to rotate relative to a correspondingly shaped depression formed in a base portion such that a top surface of the platform member is no longer in a coplanar relationship with a top surface of the base portion. When this occurs, a bottom surface of the platform member is exposed. As a result, indicia are exposed which correspond to degree markings disposed on the bottom surface of the platform member. The degree markings indicate the angle that corresponds to the amount of pronation and/or supination of the user's foot.

The invention discloses a detachable talus prosthesis which comprises a talonavicular subtalar joint assembly and a tibiotalar joint assembly. On one hand, the detachable talus prosthesis is formed by combining the talonavicular subtalar joint assembly and the tibiotalar joint assembly and is easy to manufacture; on the other hand, the subtalar joint surface and talonavicular joint surface are of porous structures, and the detachable talus prosthesis has a biological function and facilitate rapid fusion and growth of prosthesis and calcaneus and scaphoid bone.

The invention discloses a foot shape analysis and shoe pad customization system, and relates to the technical field of foot treatment. A manufacturing method comprises the following steps: acquiring data of soles and heels of a patient through an optical foot detection instrument; photographing the feet and knees of the patient by the system, and capturing pictures to obtain a detection report; selecting the type of shoe pads and a yardage which are suitable for a customer according to the report, and putting the shoe pads into a special heater for heating; placing non-shaped customized shoe pads on a special shaping pillow for shaping; keeping ankles and subtalar joints in a correct biological power line; after the two shoe pads are shaped, checking whether the shoe pads are suitable for arches of the feet of the customer precisely or not; performing simple tailoring on the widths according to shoes of the customer to ensure that the shoe pads are perfectly matched with the shoes. The foot shape analysis and shoe pad customization system can make a quick diagnosis according to the shapes of the feet, the shapes of knee joints, the shapes of the arches of the feet, excessive intortion, insufficient intortion, hallux valgus, high and low feet, paint points, proper shoe styles and the like to customize assorted correction shoe pads, and is convenient and practical.

A prosthetic foot (70) incorporates a foot keel (71) and a calf shank (72) connected to the foot keel to form an ankle joint area of the prosthetic fool. The foot keel has forefoot and hindfoot portions and an upwardly arched midfoot portion extending between the forefoot and midfoot portions. The calf shank includes a downward convexly curved lower end which is adjustably attached at a portion thereof to the foot keel by way of a releasable fastener arrangement which includes a coupling element (73) intermediate the calf shank and foot keel. The coupling element includes a resilient material forming a joint permitting subtalar joint-like motion of the prosthetic foot in gait.

The present disclosure provides methods and devices that allow for rotational control, compression and fusion of the ankle as required for treatment while providing additional mobility in the movement of the foot. The devices of the present disclosure are configured to go through the talus and tibia for fusion of ankle joint while avoiding the calcaneus and subtalar joint. According to a first aspect, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are curved to provide sufficient area for rotational control and compression of the ankle bones. According to a second aspect, exemplary embodiments of the nails of the present disclosure are configured to be placed at an angle with respect to the intramedullary canal.