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Design And Evaluation Of A Novel Ankle Joint For An Ankle Foot Orthosis For Individuals With Drop-Foot, Eileen Maya Baker
Design And Evaluation Of A Novel Ankle Joint For An Ankle Foot Orthosis For Individuals With Drop-Foot, Eileen Maya Baker
Master's Theses (2009 -)
Individuals who have had a stroke often ambulate with an ankle foot orthosis (AFO) to treat drop-foot, a common impairment preventing active ankle dorsiflexion. AFOs limit ankle plantarflexion or drop-foot, but also restrict ankle motion that introduces additional gait pathologies during ambulation. The goal of this study was to design a mechanical ankle joint for an articulated thermoplastic AFO to permit enhanced motion during stance. This novel ankle joint operated in two stages: 1) locked during swing to prevent drop-foot and 2) unlocked during stance to allow motion. This novel ankle joint was first tested with able-bodied subjects to ensure …