Personalized Ankle Foot Orthosis With Exchangeable Elastic Elements

“…Research on the development of custom-fit orthoses using RP has been very limited. A 3D scanner in conjunction with SLS was used by Milusheva et al [ 12 , 13 ] to develop 3D models of customized AFO's. However, the SLS prototype of the customized AFO was used only for design evaluation purposes and not as the functional prototype.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patient specific ankle-foot orthoses using rapid prototyping

Mavroidis

Ranky

Sivak

et al. 2011

J NeuroEngineering Rehabil

226

191

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BackgroundPrefabricated orthotic devices are currently designed to fit a range of patients and therefore they do not provide individualized comfort and function. Custom-fit orthoses are superior to prefabricated orthotic devices from both of the above-mentioned standpoints. However, creating a custom-fit orthosis is a laborious and time-intensive manual process performed by skilled orthotists. Besides, adjustments made to both prefabricated and custom-fit orthoses are carried out in a qualitative manner. So both comfort and function can potentially suffer considerably. A computerized technique for fabricating patient-specific orthotic devices has the potential to provide excellent comfort and allow for changes in the standard design to meet the specific needs of each patient.MethodsIn this paper, 3D laser scanning is combined with rapid prototyping to create patient-specific orthoses. A novel process was engineered to utilize patient-specific surface data of the patient anatomy as a digital input, manipulate the surface data to an optimal form using Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, and then download the digital output from the CAD software to a rapid prototyping machine for fabrication.ResultsTwo AFOs were rapidly prototyped to demonstrate the proposed process. Gait analysis data of a subject wearing the AFOs indicated that the rapid prototyped AFOs performed comparably to the prefabricated polypropylene design.ConclusionsThe rapidly prototyped orthoses fabricated in this study provided good fit of the subject's anatomy compared to a prefabricated AFO while delivering comparable function (i.e. mechanical effect on the biomechanics of gait). The rapid fabrication capability is of interest because it has potential for decreasing fabrication time and cost especially when a replacement of the orthosis is required.

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“…Drop foot is another disease that affects the ability of patients to raise their foot at the ankle. In this case, Milusheva et al [49] and Faustini et al [50] designed and fabricated personalised ankle-foot orthosis, based on a 3D laser scanning model of the patient's ankle-foot, to assist and restore the ankle-foot movements. These orthoses also used a passive component (e.g.…”

Section: Powder Bed Fusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review on the use of additive manufacturing to produce lower limb orthoses

et al. 2019

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Orthoses (exoskeletons and fracture fixation devices) enhance users' ability to function and improve their quality of life by supporting alignment correction, restoring mobility, providing protection, immobilisation and stabilisation. Ideally, these devices should be personalised to each patient to improve comfort and performance. Production costs have been one of the main constraints for the production of personalised orthoses. However, customisation and personalisation of orthoses are now possible through the use of additive manufacturing. This paper presents the current state of the art of additive manufacturing for the fabrication of orthoses, providing several examples, and discusses key research challenges to be addressed to further develop this field.

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Personalized Ankle Foot Orthosis With Exchangeable Elastic Elements

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Additive manufacturing of custom orthoses and prostheses—A review

Additive manufacturing of custom orthoses and prostheses—A review

Patient specific ankle-foot orthoses using rapid prototyping

A review on the use of additive manufacturing to produce lower limb orthoses

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