Ankle-foot orthosis
OwnerRobert J. Wattsinventor
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Abstract
One embodiment provides an ankle-foot orthosis (32) for resisting plantarflexion of a patient's foot, the orthosis (32) comprising: a resiliently flexible sock-like structure (34) enveloping, in use, at least a portion of a patient's lower leg in the vicinity of the ankle and at least a portion of the plantar (46) and dorsal (48) aspects of the patient's foot. Another embodiment provides an ankle-foot orthosis (1) for resisting plantarflexion of a patient's foot, the orthosis (1) comprising: a resilient rib (3) locatable, in use, along and in abutment with at least a portion of the dorsal aspect of the patient's foot and at least a portion of the patient's lower leg, the orthosis (1) comprising means (7) for securing the rib (3) to the patient's foot and lower leg.
Claims22
An ankle-foot orthosis (32) comprising:
- a resiliently flexible sock-like structure (34) enveloping, in use, at least a portion of a patient's lower leg in the vicinity of the ankle and at least a portion of the plantar and dorsal aspects (46,48) of a patient's foot, characterised in that said sock-like structure (34) is of silicone and in that said orthosis provides, in use, a predetermined substantially constant resistance to planterflexion of the patient's foot.
An orthosis according to any preceding claim, wherein the reinforcing means (38,56) has a greater resilience than the sock-like structure (34).
An orthosis according to any preceding claim, comprising an insertion slit extending substantially midway between the medial malleolus (40) and the lateral malleolus (42) at the back of the ankle towards the calcaneum, means (50,54) being provided to securely close the slit once the patient's foot has been inserted in the orthosis.
An orthosis according to any preceding claim, wherein the orthosis envelops at least a portion of the dorsal (48) and plantar (46) aspects of the foot without enveloping the toes (49).
An orthosis according to any preceding claim, wherein the orthosis envelops at least a portion of the plantar aspect (46) of the foot without enveloping the calcaneum (44).
An orthosis according to any preceding claim, wherein the sock-like structure is of 35 shore silicone elastomer.
An orthosis according to any preceding claim, wherein the orthosis is skin coloured.
An orthosis according to any preceding claim, wherein the orthosis is fabricated by injection moulding.
A kit comprising a plurality of orthosis (32) according to any preceding claim, the orthosis being of varying size and shape for fitting to feet of different sizes and shapes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.