Category Archives: Special Section
September 2013
Criss Crossers & De-Rotation Straps
The first and only device developed to discourage w-sitting, Criss Crossers use a unique audio cue to remind children to change their position.
September 2013
HEKO & HEKO PreFab
SureStep HEKO is the first and only pediatric hyper extension knee orthosis to incorporate a 4-axis knee hinge, for smooth, anatomically correct flexion and extension. This exceptional device provides localized control of the knee, preventing hyperextension, valgus and varus, while allowing full flexion and extension. With adjustable extension stops, the HEKO offers up to 30 degrees of adjustability.
September 2013
Pullover & Advanced
The SureStep PullOver is an amazing tool that not only facilitates improved stability of the foot and ankle complex using a SureStep SMO, but it is also the only SMO that incorporates a true dorsiflexion assist through the use of a removable proximal strut.
September 2013
Indy 2 Stage
A uniquely designed orthosis developed to help children reach their potential. This exceptional “orthosis within an orthosis” allows for the SureStep SMO to be utilized independent of the AFO. Children can work through a variety of transitional skills without impeding normal muscle function.
September 2013
BigShot/BigShot Lite
A growing child means eventually outgrowing the original SureStep SMO. The BigShot and BigShot Lite are the perfect solutions for older children who still need the stability of SureStep.
September 2013
SureStep SMO
The SureStep SMO remains the most advanced method of controlling excessive pronation and providing stability to the hypotonic population. Suitable for patients up to 80 lbs.
September 2013
You get what you give
When my wife Pam and I started this incredible journey, we did it with passion and faith. SureStep was founded with a passion for improving the lives of children with special needs. And we have always had faith that we will get what we give.
September 2013
An unexpected path, an invaluable perspective
For this family, one tiny extra chromosome led to a journey of self discovery
When our son was born, we prayed for a healthy baby with 10 fingers and 10 toes. Our prayers were answered. Three years later, those same prayers were said for baby number two. And, once again, our prayers were answered.
By Suzi Klimek
September 2013
From the Editor: Bridging the Gap
For a parent, the only thing more frustrating than knowing something isn’t quite right with your young child is hearing that nothing can be done until the underlying cause of the symptoms is identified. Luckily, parents of children with hypotonia can be spared the latter frustration.
September 2013
Understanding Hypotonia
Diagnostic challenges should not delay clinical intervention
Hypotonia, or abnormally low muscle tone, is by itself not a disorder but a symptom of an enormous array of issues—many of which can be difficult to diagnose accurately. Even in the absence of a specific underlying diagnosis, however, children with hypotonia can benefit from clinical intervention.
By Christina Hall Nettles
September 2013
Gait: The Cornerstone of Intervention
Quantifying the effects of hypotonia starts in the clinic
Effective management of children with hypotonia requires an understanding of how the condition affects gait. Clinicians typically rely on their professional experience when discussing the effects of hypotonia on gait in pediatric patients, partly because they trust that experience, but also because so little research has actually elucidated these effects.
By Cary Groner
September 2013
Orthotic Solutions for Children with Hypotonia
New research underscores years of positive clinical results
When it comes to orthotic management of pediatric patients with hypotonia, the medical literature is only beginning to document the effectiveness that clinicians have been reporting anecdotally for years.
By Cary Groner
September 2013
Orthotic success stories: Four cases in a series
Each child in this case series was assessed every other week for 16 weeks to determine mastery of items 23, 26-28, 30-39, and 41 (ranging from “pull to stand” to “walk fast”) on the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale. Test instructions were modified as needed for children to understand them. Parents were included in each session and encouraged to play with the child in order to demonstrate the targeted skills. Graphs illustrate age of mastery for each item number for the hypotonic child compared to a “typical” child, with linear trend lines illustrating rate of change, and demonstrate the improved mastery of skills after prescription of supramalleolar orthoses (SMOs). The cases will be presented in September at the O&P World Congress in Orlando, FL.
By Megan Smith, CO
CONFERENCE COVERAGE: Orthotics Technology Forum 2013
In late May lower extremity clinicians, orthotic lab owners and managers, and technology experts gathered at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta for a discussion of digital technology in orthotic application, design, and manufacture. By Emily Delzell
July 2013
High-tech path leads to the future of improved orthotic prescription
One of the most-talked-about images from the 2013 Orthotics Technology Forum (OTF) depicted 11 custom foot orthoses made by 11 experienced orthotists and podiatrists for a single patient. All 11 practitioners had been given the same information about the patient’s condition, yet all 11 orthoses were distinctly different.
July 2013
3D printing: The shape of things to come
The Orthotics Technology Forum presentation given by Ben Boyer, CPed, was as much about what the speaker was wearing as what he was saying. Boyer, who is the lab manager at Kintec in Vancouver, Canada, wore a product he thinks may represent part of the future of orthotic design and manufacture—orthoses he’d printed with a hobbyist-level desktop 3D printer.
July 2013
Lean manufacturing transforms orthotic fabrication
The need to replace entrenched processes and thinking with fluid, fast-moving orthotic design and manufacture that minimizes errors and maximizes resources was highlighted by several speakers at the Orthotics Technology Forum, including Jarret Eschenburg, CPed, director of operations at Coral Springs, FL-based SureFit, a subsidiary of Hanger.
May 2013
Clinicians come to aid of marathon victims
Lower extremity practitioners were among the first responders after two explosions ravaged the Boston Marathon last month, and are continuing to help heal the hundreds of victims who lost limbs or experienced other traumatic lower extremity injuries.
By Emily Delzell
March 2013
CEREBRAL PALSY: Dynamic devices facilitate compliance, outcomes in children with cerebral palsy
Brace wear time, not torque, is key – Dynamic orthoses offer an effective alternative to static devices for management of tip-toe gait and knee flexion contracture in children with cerebral palsy (CP), particularly because the dynamic devices are associated with greater compliance, according to separate studies from Sweden and France.
March 2013
OSTEOARTHRITIS: Knee braces and wedged insoles both alter gait in patients with knee OA
A Taiwanese study offers more evidence that offloading knee braces and wedged foot orthoses are both associated with significant biomechanical improvements in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).
March 2013
DIABETES: More results support use of foot orthoses to significantly decrease plantar pressures
Swedes also find low ulceration rate – Research from Sweden and Egypt provides more evidence that foot orthoses can significantly decrease plantar pressures in patients with diabetes, theoretically reducing the risk of foot ulcers and lower extremity amputation.
March 2013
FLAT FOOT: Arch structure in children with talipes planovalgus improves with shoe inserts
Orthotic management of pediatric talipes planovalgus starting at an early age is associated with significant improvement in weightbearing arch structure, according to research from Saga University in Japan.
March 2013
OFFLOADING: Walkers’ effect on proximal biomechanics varies depending on design characteristics
Tibial inclination appears significant – Orthotic walkers have significant effects on proximal joint mechanics during gait, the extent of which appear to depend on individual device design, according to research from the University of Central Lancashire in the UK.
March 2013
PEDIATRICS: In hyperpronators, functional scoliosis responds to distal orthotic treatment
What appears to be idiopathic scoliosis may actually be functional scoliosis that can be effectively treated with foot orthoses in children who are hyperpronators, according to research from Chungnam National University in Daejeon, South Korea.
