Test bench for orthoses - Lower-leg-foot orthosis rigidity measurement

Dynamic lower-leg-foot orthoses compensate for lost muscle or nerve function, allowing patients to perform walking movements following such events as strokes. The orthoses are fitted specifically and precisely to the patient. One decisive parameter is orthosis rigidity. Current methods require the presence of an orthosis technician, who selects the model he believes to be correct according to his subjective impression – there is no objective method to help him. Even when wear reduces original orthosis rigidity, that reduction cannot be represented objectively. Scientists at FH Münster have now developed a method and a test bench for measuring orthosis rigidity. The FABIAN (Fast Adjustable Test Bench to Investigate Ankle-Foot Orthoses) allows simple, convenient determination and optimization of ankle orthosis mechanical properties: With a single rotation of the two primary components relative to each other, ankle orthosis rigidity can be determined in the sagittal plane around three pivot points crucial for physiological gait: the calcaneus, the upper ankle joint, and the metatarsophalangeal joint.