Required assisting torques by an ankle-foot orthosis for patients with foot drop

IJERPH David Scherb
Resulting, simulated assistance moment curves for a patient with various severities of foot drop

Patients suffering from foot drop show a disturbed gait pattern and have a higher risk of stumbling and falling. A passive ankle-foot orthosis is usually used for treatment. In order for the orthosis to treat the patient in an optimal way, the applied support of the orthosis must be in accordance with the support required by the patient. In the latest KTmfk publication, an approach was developed to determine the optimal course of support provided by the ankle-foot orthosis over the gait cycle of various patients using musculoskeletal human models.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20176687