Custom ankle brace system
OwnerErnesto G. Castroinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A custom ankle brace which is made to compensate for debilitating conditions of an individual patient's ankle area. The brace is custom made by creating a negative cast of the patient's foot/ankle/lower-leg; and then prescribed markings are included on the negative cast by the castmaker to indicate the desired geometry of support. The markings are transferable to a positive cast to inform the bracemaker. The custom brace has inner and outer material layers with a stiffening element within, all fitted to the shape of a built-up positive cast, the stiffening element having a unitary horizontal partial sole portion and vertical back-and-sides-of-leg portion. The stiffening element, made from a thin polymeric sheet, is vacuum and heat fitted to the built-up-positive cast.
Claims17
A method of making an ankle brace system, for orthotic assistance to an ankle of a patient and adapted to be worn inside a shoe, comprising the steps of:
- a. placing a thin flexible stocking covering over said ankle of said patient;
- b. making markings on said covering on its outside surface to indicate the specific geometry of orthotic support necessary for said ankle, said markings being done in such manner as to be information-transferable to a negative cast overlaying said covering;
- c. with the patient's sole placed in about a horizontal plane and lower leg placed vertically, making a negative cast overlaying said covering;
- d. removing said negative cast from said ankle of said patient;
- e. said markings being
- i. selected from a standard identified group knowable to both the castmaker and the bracemaker, and
- ii. done in such manner as to include marking information at least relating to a preferred geometry of positive cast build-up for use in making an ankle brace for said patient;
- and
- f. removing said covering from inside said negative cast, whereby said markings remain on an inside surface of said negative cast.
A method of making an ankle brace system, using a positive cast of the foot and lower leg of a patient, an ankle brace, for providing orthotic assistance to an ankle area of a patient, wherein said ankle area includes at least one abnormal protrusion enhancing disability for normal walking, and adapted to be worn inside a shoe, comprising the steps of:
- a. making a build-up of said positive cast in the area of said protrusion, sufficient to provide for patient comfort without loss of support;
- b. using said positive cast, making a support brace pattern having a single vertical seam on the heel side;
- c. making material layers to fit said support brace pattern;
- and
- d. making a stiffener element for use within said material layers in making said ankle brace for said patient;
- e. wherein said stiffener element is conformable to said positive cast when heated and comprises a partial sole portion and a leg back portion fixed at about a right angle from said partial sole portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.