When 2 faculty members in the Colorado State University (CSU) Department of Design and Merchandising learned from ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) users that most of the shoes used to accommodate the brace are big, black, and bulky, they decided to reinvent it. Associate Professor Kristen Morris and Assistant Professor Lida Aflatoony started their project to create the new Ultra Adapt shoe by interviewing people who wear AFOs to learn about the common barriers they face.

If a broken bone is too severe to heal on its own or a bone tumor needs to be removed, surgeons insert an implant that enables the bone to grow back together. These implants often consist of pieces of the patient’s own bone, known as autografts, or metal or ceramic parts. A key drawback of many implants is that they require a second surgery to harvest the tissue for the autografts. Additionally, metal implants tend to be too rigid and may loosen over time…

A reimagined limb socket interface combines highly personalized pressure mapping with artificial intelligence (AI) software and a lighter infill, creating a customized prosthesis that’s more comfortable to wear, for much longer, said researchers at Simon Fraser University (SFU). “For the first time, this 3D-printing technology is capturing unique pressure and force distribution data from a patient and using that data to design a custom prosthetic device and…

Researchers led by Tommaso Lenzi, associate professor in the mechanical engineering department at the University of Utah’s John and Marcia Price College of Engineering, are piloting a portable, lightweight hip exoskeleton that can reduce the energy required to walk by nearly 20% in individuals with post-stroke hemiparesis. The 5.5-pound device is worn around the hips and straps to the user’s thighs.

Researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology report a novel nanotherapeutic platform that accelerates diabetic wound healing by simultaneously targeting blood vessels and inflamed tissue. The research team engineered hybrid extracellular vesicles by merging vesicles derived from endothelial cells and neutrophils, then loading them with deferoxamine. By fusing endothelial- and neutrophil-derived membranes, the system achieves…

In March, Hanger Inc. announced the acquisition of Liberating Technologies (LTI), a research organization founded in 2000 and previously owned by Coapt. Since 2008, LTI’s specialized research team has secured numerous government-funded grants to pursue cutting-edge, high impact concepts and develop next generation technologies for the O&P field.