Lower Extremity Review
The medical literature doesn’t yet have all the answers regarding orthotic management of stroke, but don’t discount the existing body of evidence. It could—and should—change the way you practice.
By Stefania Fatone, PhD, BPO(Hons)
Parag Chitnis, PhD, of George Mason University led a team that developed a wearable ultrasound system that can produce clinically relevant information about muscle function during dynamic physical activity. Many medical technologies can give doctors a window into the inner workings of a patient’s body, but few can be used while that patient is moving.
Are so-called “Weekend Warriors”—those folks who cram all their physical activity into 1–2 days—better than those who distribute their activity more evenly over the week? In a study from Massachusetts General Hospital, researchers looked at 90,000 people who wore accelerometers for a week.
BionicM, a Japanese medical device startup, has introduced its US Food & Drug Administration 510(k)–registered Bio Leg™. This robotic prosthetic knee joint assists a wide range of movements with power, such as ascending and descending stairs. The knee bends with power and actualizes graceful walking without…
A team of Rice University engineers has launched a first-of-its-kind, open-source software that constructs and uses personalized computer models of how individual patients move to optimize treatments for neurologic and orthopedic mobility impairments. Funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health…
Custom, flexible ParFlex Plus® Orthotic for Golfers offers a unique forefoot stabilization, allowing for a stronger follow through. Wearers can benefit from improved proprioception, which is a key element of athletic performance and injury prevention while participating in the sport.
Ankle-foot-orthoses (AFOs) play a significant role in gait biomechanics, but researchers from Italy identified a lack in evidence of the effects of AFOs on static balance. They conducted a study that looked at 24 patients (15 males, age 57±14 yrs, BMI 23.4±4.4kg/m2), with…
Previous studies have confirmed that there is a difference in plantar pressure between falls and non-falls in elderly people, but the relationship between fall risk and foot pressure has not been studied.
By Yifeng Yan, Jianlin Ou, Hanxue Shi, Chenming Sun, Longbin Shen, Zhen Song, Lin Shu, and Zhuoming Chen
A team of researchers from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), North Carolina State University, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a new method for controlling lower limb exoskeletons. The novel method developed by the…
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