Orthotic support

Many people cannot use the wheelchairs as they come from the manufacturer. Specialized seating is required to help persons to remain in a comfortable and functional seated posture for activities that enable them to access work and attend educational and recreational activities. Orthotic supports, seating systems in wheelchairs, chairs that promote dynamic posture in the workplace, and chairs for the elderly that fit properly, are safe, and encourage movement all fit into the broad category of sitting technology. 

Orthotic support in this context is the mechanical support, or orthosis, that enables the range of motion of a given joint or joints, but limiting movement beyond the norm. Such support can be found in the ankle detail of a walking boot or running shoe. Issues that must be addressed when using an orthotic component are ... 

One of the major challenges when designing the orthotic support is to minimise the shear action that occurs at the interface between the external support and the skin as well as the underlying tissues. Shear is caused by the external support... 

Joint prostheses do not deal with the deformities directly. Orthotics in hemophilia serve as an important supportive measure before or after surgery. 

Referral is always necessary, for orthotic treatment (support or bracing to correct the deformity) or corrective surgery. 

Biomechanics is the study of how the muscles and skeletal structure of living organisms are affected by and exert mechanical forces. Biomechanics apphca-tions include the development of orthotics (braces or supports), such as spinal, leg, and foot braces for patients with disabhng disorders such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, or stroke. Prostheses (artificial limbs) also fall under the held of biomechanics the sockets, joints, brakes, and pneumaric or hydraulic controls of an arrihcial leg, for example, are manufactured and then combined in a modular fashion, in much the same way as are the parts of an automobile in a factory. 

In general, an orthotic system is a stmcture applied externally to a part of the body, in order to either correct deformity, improve function or relieve symptoms of a disease. Accordingly, an orthotic system provides a means to support, assist or restore neuromuscular functionalities of a body part. 

Hand splints have today well established orthopedic applications as orthotic systems to immobilize either the entire hand or just one or more fingers. They can be adopted for different purposes, including post-surgical or post-trauma immobilizations and articulation-corrective or articulation-supporting actions. Such typical examples of uses refer to so-called static hand splints . More generally, hand splints can be divided aeeording to the scheme reported in Figure 24.1. 

The authors thank University of Malaya s Prosthetic and Orthotic Laboratory technician Razalee Rahimi for assisting in the experiments. This work is supported in part by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education under Grant FRGS/2008/FKP-0069. 

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