Ambulatory protective device
AssigneeFoot Defender, LLC
InventorJason R. Hanft
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ambulatory protective device is configured to be worn on a person’s foot who has a foot condition, such as a diabetic foot condition. The ambulatory protective device includes an insole which has viscoelastic inserts located and otherwise disposed relative to non-viscous polymeric foam strata to create zones or areas on the insole characterized by reduced force or contact pressure when subjected to forces from the foot during ambulation when the ambulatory protective device is worn. Such contact-pressure reducing areas are located in the heel area and the forefoot area of the device. The ambulatory protective device, equipped with such insole, may be in the form of a shoe, boot, brace, cast, or walker, such as a CAM walker.
Claims14
An ambulatory protective device configured to be worn on a person’s foot having a foot condition, the device comprising:
- an insole extending medially, laterally, distally, and proximally so as to define a footbed within the ambulatory protective device, the footbed having forefoot and heel areas;
- a frame extending from the footbed, the frame comprising posterior and anterior portions, the frame having distal and proximal ends adapted to operatively engage portions of the foot and calf of the person, respectively;
- wherein the insole includes a top layer, a middle layer located under the top layer, and a bottom layer located under the middle layer;
- wherein the middle layer comprises a stratum having open trays formed therein, the open trays located in the forefoot and heel areas, respectively;
- wherein the middle layer further comprises inserts received in the open trays;
- wherein the stratum consists essentially of polymeric foam material and the inserts consist essentially of viscoelastic material, the polymeric foam material and the viscoelastic material configured to have first and second sets of physical properties including corresponding first and second compression set and rebound values;
- and
- wherein the first compression set and rebound values associated with the polymeric foam material are sufficiently higher than the second set of compression set and rebound values associated with the viscoelastic inserts to cause the insole, when worn during ambulation, to reduce average contact pressure by at least 30% in the heel area and the forefoot area compared to ambulation without the insole.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.