Footlifter Orthosis

Footlifter orthoses enable patients with plegic or spastic impairments in the ankle joint to walk more easily. Existing footlifter orthoses are modified to fit patients only after a pre-selection of configurations, which leads to inadequate care.

Together with partners from industry, medical science and research, IWK Institute for Materials Technology and Plastics Processing developed an innovative orthosis based on modular parts which enables a very efficient configuration for each individual patient. Input for the mechanical design and optimization of the carbon fiber layup was gathered with a patient walking in a movement lab. The influence of structure and materials was hence modeled and applied with regard to the patient.
The results from the movement lab help to evaluate the effectiveness of the orthosis.