(beneficiary ROADRUNNERFOOT)
The project includes the development of innovative materials and production processes for orthoses, with the aim of reducing the gap functional between the invalid and the able-bodied person.
The developed orthoses were lighter, stronger and more functional than those currently made in Italy, thanks to the innovations introduced by the project, such as:
- Use of innovative composite and polymeric materials.
- Use of Gait Analysis.
- Use of new morphologies and kinematics for the ankle, knee and hip hinges, more similar to the natural movements of the limb.
- Lamination process with autoclave cycle and compression molding.
In detail, the following were created and tested:
- FO (foot): customized insoles with variable thickness depending on the weight of the user and the area.
- AFO (ankle-foot): three types of standard AFO.
- KAFO / HKAFO (hip-knee-ankle-foot): hinges with kinematics similar to those of the healthy limb (double spring, camber, elastomer, glyph, clutch) and rods and shells in carbon fiber materials.
The optimization of the material layout and the use of thermoformable shells also lead to a decrease of the times and costs of the production cycle for standard orthoses, while processing in an autoclave reduces the impact environmental.
