Numerical analysis of a novel silicone sole-based passive orthosis for home gait rehabilitation training

Year 2022, Volume: 6 Issue: 4, 251 - 256, 20.12.2022

Hamid Asadi Dereshgi , Dilan Demir

https://doi.org/10.26701/ems.1123082

Abstract

Drop foot syndrome is a neuromuscular disease characterized by weakness of the muscles in the front of the lower leg. This disease can cause partial or complete loss of control over the foot and affects the ability to lift the foot from the ankle. Orthoses are used to help improve the gait of patients with limited control over the foot muscles. The most important advantages of passive orthoses are that they are light and inexpensive. Thermoplastic materials are generally preferred in lower extremity orthoses due to their high strength and elasticity. The novelty of this study was to examine the mechanical behavior of the proposed passive orthosis at different weight forces. It was observed that displacement, stress and strain values increased with the increase of weight force and vibration frequency. Consequently, Polypropylene-based orthosis was accepted as the ideal design material as it exhibits higher elastic behavior than Polyetherimide and Polylactic Acid-based orthoses. Consequently, this study enables researchers a useful reference on passive orthosis parameters such as modeling, material behavior, shape control, geometry, and size optimization for key biomechanical engineering applications.

Keywords

Passive orthosis, Rehabilitation system, Finite Element Analysis, Polypropylene, Polyetherimide, Polylactic Acid

Supporting Institution

İstanbul Arel Üniversitesi

Thanks

The authors would like to acknowledge the technical support provided by ArelMED-I Application and Research Center of Istanbul Arel University related to the numerical analysis.

References

• [1] Grissom, S. P., & Blanton, S. (2001). Treatment of upper motoneuron plantarflexion contractures by using an adjustable ankle-foot orthosis. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 82(2), 270-273.
• [2] Chen, B., Zi, B., Zeng, Y., Qin, L., & Liao, W. H. (2018). Ankle-foot orthoses for rehabilitation and reducing metabolic cost of walking: Possibilities and challenges. Mechatronics, 53, 241-250.
• [3] Jamshidi, N., Hanife, H., Rostami, M., Najarian, S., Menhaj, M. B., Saadatnia, M., & Salami, F. (2010). Modelling the interaction of ankle-foot orthosis and foot by finite element methods to design an optimized sole in steppage gait. Journal of medical engineering & technology, 34(2), 116-123.
• [4] Deberg, L., Taheri Andani, M., Hosseinipour, M., & Elahinia, M. (2014). An SMA passive ankle foot orthosis: Design, modeling, and experimental evaluation. Smart Materials Research, 2014.
• [5] Kubasad, P. R., Gawande, V. A., Todeti, S. R., Kamat, Y. D., & Vamshi, N. (2020, December). Design and analysis of a passive ankle foot orthosis by using transient structural method. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1706, No. 1, p. 012203). IOP Publishing.
• [6] Gautam, G. Y., Jain, M. L., & Gehlot, V. (2021). Design and Analysis of Thermoplastic Polypropylene Ankle Foot Orthosis. Journal of Manufacturing Engineering, 16(3), 087-091.
• [7] Kubasad, P. R., Gawande, V. A., Todeti, S. R., Kamat, Y. D., & Vamshi, N. (2020, December). Design and analysis of a passive ankle foot orthosis by using transient structural method. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1706, No. 1, p. 012203). IOP Publishing.
• [8] Chen, R. K., Chen, L., Tai, B. L., Wang, Y., Shih, A. J., & Wensman, J. (2014). Additive manufacturing of personalized ankle-foot orthosis. Proceedings of transactions of the North American manufacturing research institution of SME (NAMRC42).
• [9] Asadi Dereshgi, H., Dal, H., Demir, D., & Türe, N.F. (2021). Orthoses: A Systematic Review. Journal of Smart Systems Research, 2(2), 135-149.
• [10] Saddow, S. E. (2012). Silicon carbide biotechnology: a biocompatible semiconductor for advanced biomedical devices and applications. Elsevier.