In this study, we compared and examined the difference in surface cerebral blood flow dynamics between ankle foot orthosis walking and robot-type ankle foot orthosis walking using a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device. The subjects were 10 people with sequelae of cerebrovascular accident hemiplegia. In the task movement, we compared the changes in local cerebral blood flow oxy-Hb in each region of brain function during rest and walking under two conditions: walking with an ankle foot orthosis and walking with a robot-type ankle foot orthosis. The areas of brain function localization with significantly improved robotic ankle foot orthosis are the non-lesion side medial primary motor cortex, the lesion side medial primary motor area, the lesion side lateral primary motor area, the non-lesion side motor cortex, and the lesion side motor cortex. An increase in Oxy-Hb was observed at the estimated location. It was speculated that walking with a robot-type ankle foot orthosis and assisting ankle plantar dorsiflexion had some effect on the primary motor cortex.

Most stroke patients lose their forefoot rocker function. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate an orthosis (HUS-AFO) which elevates the heel of the paralyzed side during the single-leg support phase period and functions as a forefoot rocker. The HUS-AFO has a four-link mechanism structure and assists heel elevation by a virtual rocker axis (HUS axis) located proximally to the MP joint and a compression spring located at the lateral side of the orthosis. A HUS device is incorporated into the sole of a short leg orthosis with a dorsiflexion resistive function to increase the plantar flexion moment of the ankle joint during walking. In addition, it was found that the HUS-AFO assists in moving forward the center of pressure of the foot (COP), and that the heel is elevated during the single-leg support phase period when the COP forward front of the HUS axis is located proximally to the MP joint.

It is not always easy to choose the best combination of upper limb prostheses and terminal devices for the needs of the upper limb amputee. And it is said that there are few evaluation methods to adequately determine the effectiveness of upper limb prostheses training, with the diversification of users. We report a case of a male amputee in his 40s with unilateral wrist disarticulation who was a landscaping contractor. He returned to his original occupation after occupational therapy with two types of upper limb prostheses and three kinds of terminal devices. We created an evaluation table composed of eight items which could easily assess the function of upper limb prosthesis and terminal device. Using this table, we could appropriately select the best combination of upper limb prostheses and terminal devices for satisfying the requirements of returning to landscaping.

Ankle fractures have been known to cause decreased gait speed and ankle plantar flexion moment long-term effects even after surgery. This study was to determine the effect of using spinal orthosis with joints providing resistive force (TSC) and Nordic poles (NPs) on the walking ability of postoperative patients with ankle fractures. A total of 12 postoperative patients with ankle fractures who were able to walk independently were evaluated for walking speed, stride length, pain, and gastrocnemius muscle action potential using TSC and NPs. As a result, the walking speed immediately when TSC was applied and after TSC removal was significantly increased compared with that before TSC, and the muscle action potential of the affected gastrocnemius muscle was significantly increased when TSC was applied. No significant improvement was observed when NPs were used. It is suggesting that the use of TSC in postoperative patients with an ankle fracture can immediately improve their walking ability.

In this study, an analysis of the size of the rental wheelchairs, the period of using rental wheelchairs and the type of the rental wheelchairs by 41 targeted residents in nursing care welfare facilities for the elderly was conducted. Ninety-eight percent of the wheelchairs which we adopted have a seat width under 380 mm. On the other hand, most wheelchairs on the market have a seat width of 400 mm or more. This suggests that the seat width of the wheelchairs for the elderly is obviously too wide, and that this improper size is related to the poor posture when sitting in a wheelchair. During the intervention period, the average number of wheelchairs used by a person was 1.6., the average duration of using wheelchairs was 469.6 days (which is one year and three months, approximately), and the average duration of use per wheelchair is 305.5 days (which is about ten months). The types of wheelchairs are broadly classified into self-propelled wheelchairs and multifunctional wheelchairs. Multifunctional wheelchairs are used in 54% of the cases during the intervention period, which shows that there is a high need for the use of multifunctional wheelchairs in the nursing care welfare facilities for the elderly. Through this study, we were able to obtain the basic data on the question of the rental wheelchairs from the residents and care workers of nursing care welfare facilities for the elderly.