A Review of Additive Manufacturing Studies for Producing Customized Ankle-Foot Orthoses

doi:10.3390/bioengineering9060249

Review

. 2022 Jun 9;9(6):249.

doi: 10.3390/bioengineering9060249.

A Review of Additive Manufacturing Studies for Producing Customized Ankle-Foot Orthoses

Rui Silva^{1

2}, António Veloso¹, Nuno Alves², Cristiana Fernandes², Pedro Morouço^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1495 Cruz Quebrada Dafundo, 1649-004 Lisbon, Portugal.
² CDRSP, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2430-028 Marinha Grande, Portugal.
³ ESECS, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal.
⁴ ciTechCare, Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal.

PMID: 35735492
PMCID: PMC9219792
DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering9060249

Review

A Review of Additive Manufacturing Studies for Producing Customized Ankle-Foot Orthoses

Rui Silva et al. Bioengineering (Basel). 2022.

. 2022 Jun 9;9(6):249.

doi: 10.3390/bioengineering9060249.

Authors

Rui Silva^{1

2}, António Veloso¹, Nuno Alves², Cristiana Fernandes², Pedro Morouço^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1495 Cruz Quebrada Dafundo, 1649-004 Lisbon, Portugal.
² CDRSP, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2430-028 Marinha Grande, Portugal.
³ ESECS, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal.
⁴ ciTechCare, Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal.

PMID: 35735492
PMCID: PMC9219792
DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering9060249

Abstract

Ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) are prescribed to improve the patient's quality of life. Supporting weak muscles or restraining spastic muscles leads to smoother and more stable locomotion. Commonly, AFO are made using thermoplastic vacuum forming, which requires a long time for production and has limited design options. Additive manufacturing (AM) can solve this problem, leading to a faster and cheaper solution. This review aimed to investigate what is the state-of-art using AM for AFO. Evaluating the used manufacturing processes, customization steps, mechanical properties, and biomechanical features in humans would provide significant insights for further research. The database searches combined AM and AFO with no year or publication type restrictions. Studies must have examined outcomes on human participants with the orthoses built by AM. Other types of orthotic devices or different manufacturing techniques were excluded. Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria. As stated by having all studies conducted in the last nine years, this is a very recent domain. Different AM processes have been used, with the majority relying on Fused Deposition Modeling. Overall, the manuscripts' quality is deficient, which is critical to promoting further studies with higher samples. Except for one paper, AM-printed AFO was comparable or superior to the thermoplastic vacuum forming AFO in mechanical tests, kinematics, kinetics, and participant feedback.

Keywords: customization; lower extremity; patient-specific; rehabilitation; walking.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Flow diagram of the search history and selection process.

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The Upper Limb Orthosis in the Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients: The Role of 3D Printing.
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References

1. Inman V.T., Ralston H.J., Todd F. Human Walking. Williams & Wilkins; Baltimore, MD, USA: 1981.
1. Hayek S., Hemo Y., Chamis S., Bat R., Segev E., Wientroub S., Yzhar Z. The effect of community-prescribed ankle-foot orthoses on gait parameters in children with spastic cerebral palsy. J. Child. Orthop. 2007;1:325–332. doi: 10.1007/s11832-007-0055-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Wren T.A.L., Dryden J.W., Mueske N.M., Dennis S.W., Healy B.S., Rethlefsen S.A. Comparison of 2 Orthotic Approaches in Children with Cerebral Palsy. Pediatr. Phys. Ther. 2015;27:218–226. doi: 10.1097/PEP.0000000000000153. - DOI - PubMed
1. Abd El-Kafy E.M. The clinical impact of orthotic correction of lower limb rotational deformities in children with cerebral palsy: A randomized controlled trial. Clin. Rehabil. 2014;28:1004–1014. doi: 10.1177/0269215514533710. - DOI - PubMed
1. Bennett B.C., Russell S.D., Abel M.F. The effects of ankle foot orthoses on energy recovery and work during gait in children with cerebral palsy. Clin. Biomech. 2012;27:287–291. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2011.09.005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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This work was funded by Portuguese national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (UIDB/05704/2020 and UIDP/05704/2020).

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[1] Inman V.T., Ralston H.J., Todd F. Human Walking. Williams & Wilkins; Baltimore, MD, USA: 1981.

[2] Inman V.T., Ralston H.J., Todd F. Human Walking. Williams & Wilkins; Baltimore, MD, USA: 1981.

[3] Hayek S., Hemo Y., Chamis S., Bat R., Segev E., Wientroub S., Yzhar Z. The effect of community-prescribed ankle-foot orthoses on gait parameters in children with spastic cerebral palsy. J. Child. Orthop. 2007;1:325–332. doi: 10.1007/s11832-007-0055-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[4] Hayek S., Hemo Y., Chamis S., Bat R., Segev E., Wientroub S., Yzhar Z. The effect of community-prescribed ankle-foot orthoses on gait parameters in children with spastic cerebral palsy. J. Child. Orthop. 2007;1:325–332. doi: 10.1007/s11832-007-0055-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[5] Wren T.A.L., Dryden J.W., Mueske N.M., Dennis S.W., Healy B.S., Rethlefsen S.A. Comparison of 2 Orthotic Approaches in Children with Cerebral Palsy. Pediatr. Phys. Ther. 2015;27:218–226. doi: 10.1097/PEP.0000000000000153. - DOI - PubMed

[6] Wren T.A.L., Dryden J.W., Mueske N.M., Dennis S.W., Healy B.S., Rethlefsen S.A. Comparison of 2 Orthotic Approaches in Children with Cerebral Palsy. Pediatr. Phys. Ther. 2015;27:218–226. doi: 10.1097/PEP.0000000000000153. - DOI - PubMed

[7] Abd El-Kafy E.M. The clinical impact of orthotic correction of lower limb rotational deformities in children with cerebral palsy: A randomized controlled trial. Clin. Rehabil. 2014;28:1004–1014. doi: 10.1177/0269215514533710. - DOI - PubMed

[8] Abd El-Kafy E.M. The clinical impact of orthotic correction of lower limb rotational deformities in children with cerebral palsy: A randomized controlled trial. Clin. Rehabil. 2014;28:1004–1014. doi: 10.1177/0269215514533710. - DOI - PubMed

[9] Bennett B.C., Russell S.D., Abel M.F. The effects of ankle foot orthoses on energy recovery and work during gait in children with cerebral palsy. Clin. Biomech. 2012;27:287–291. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2011.09.005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[10] Bennett B.C., Russell S.D., Abel M.F. The effects of ankle foot orthoses on energy recovery and work during gait in children with cerebral palsy. Clin. Biomech. 2012;27:287–291. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2011.09.005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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A Review of Additive Manufacturing Studies for Producing Customized Ankle-Foot Orthoses

Affiliations

A Review of Additive Manufacturing Studies for Producing Customized Ankle-Foot Orthoses

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

Similar articles

Cited by

References

Publication types

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Research Materials

Miscellaneous