Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics

Although patients with severe gait disturbance often use a knee-ankle-foot orthosis (KAFO), they may swing their involved lower limb with circumduction or lifting because their knee joints are locked during the swing phase. Several researchers have developed stance-control KAFOs to solve these issues; however, some of these stance-control KAFOs are heavy while others are expensive. Therefore, we have developed a simple stance-control system (SSCS) attached to a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic KAFO that is small-sized, lightweight, and inexpensive. When a healthy adult walked wearing a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic KAFO, no malfunction of the SSCS system was found in his daily activities. Gait analysis revealed the SSCS enhanced the symmetry of his gait pattern.

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Robot devices are expected to be widely used in various applications. These include support for independent mobility of elderly people with muscle weakness and people with impaired motor function as well as support for nursing care The hybrid assistive limb (HAL) suit is designed to increase and assist the motor function of the body at will and is used to provide walking support for people who require nursing care, including elderly people with muscle weakness and those with impaired motor function. There are few reports which verify the efficacy of HAL suits for hemiplegic patients with stroke. Although the wearing of HAL suits takes time and effort and care is required, the possibilities of HAL are high and it can be expected to be used as a brace or a piece of training equipment for future rehabilitation.

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Occupational health aims at the prevention and mitigation of occupational diseases and work-related diseases by promoting adaption of work and workers. The Industrial Safety and Health Law of Japan obligates the company to improve working environments and work methods and to assure the fitness of workers based on the results of working environmental measurements and health examinations. Small enterprises are legally exempted from the obligations to assign an occupational physician and a health supervisor and to hold health committees ; therefore, the owners of such a workshop should directly promote occupational health and risk assessment by seeking consultation from outsource providers. Plaster is made of calcium sulfate categorized as a non-metallic mineral resource, and its crushing and blending process using fixed power source legally requires countermeasures such as local exhausts at its source origin. 5S (Seiri, Seiton, Seisou, Seiketsu, Shitsuke ; Sorting, Setting in order or Stabilizing, Shining, Standardizing, Sustaining the practice) and KY (Kiken-Yochi ; anticipating risks) are the fundamental activities of safety and health also known to be beneficial to productivity.

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