Chu T M, Reddy N P
Department of Mechanical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark 07102, USA.
J Rehabil Res Dev. 1995 Nov;32(4):349-60.
Abnormal motion of the ankle-foot complex presents a major problem in the rehabilitation of stroke patients. These patients often develop drop foot, a problem involving excessive and uncontrolled plantar flexion. An ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) is prescribed to constrain and inhibit this abnormal motion. The purpose of this investigation was to simulate the drop foot problem to determine the stress distribution in the orthosis. A quasi-static 3-D finite element analysis of the AFO complex was conducted using ADINA. Results confirmed the hypotheses that the maximum peak stress occurs in the neck, heel, and side-arc region of the AFO. However, the neck region of the AFO experienced the largest amount of stress. High stress concentration in the neck region observed in the present analysis is consistent with the common clinical observation that AFOs break down in the neck region.
踝足复合体的异常运动是中风患者康复过程中的一个主要问题。这些患者常常会出现足下垂，这是一个涉及过度且不受控制的跖屈问题。通常会开具踝足矫形器（AFO）来限制和抑制这种异常运动。本研究的目的是模拟足下垂问题，以确定矫形器中的应力分布。使用ADINA对AFO复合体进行了准静态三维有限元分析。结果证实了以下假设：AFO的颈部、足跟和侧弧区域会出现最大峰值应力。然而，AFO的颈部区域承受的应力最大。在本分析中观察到的颈部区域的高应力集中与临床常见观察结果一致，即AFO在颈部区域会损坏。
