No abstract

Most of the upper extremity transradial prosthesis consists of exoskeletal system which makes the prosthesis comparatively heavy and also takes more time for fabrication. Current designs of commercial arm prostheses do not support a modular approach. The purpose of this study was to design and develop a low cost socket attachment unit for endoskeletal transradial prosthetic system (ranging from very short below elbow to wrist disarticulation) which will help in increasing and decreasing the length of the forearm bar (pylon) of the prosthesis easily as per the requirement. The socket adapter was made from aluminium alloy with internal threading of M12*1.75. As the wrist unit was eliminated and light weight materials were used for fabrication of prosthesis, the weight of the prosthesis was about 0.506 kg as compared to 1 kg for conventional prosthesis. After fitting the prosthesis, patient was able to open the terminal device at any desired elbow flexion and wrist position. The novel socket adapter design will allow the Endoskeletal idea to be used in the construction of upper limb prostheses. Key words: Transradial prosthesis, Endoskeletal, Modular, Socket adopter, Aluminium alloy.

Background: In cerebral palsy, importance must be given on effective and efficient walking. 30 subjects; 16 males and 14 females (mean age 6.5 year) of spastic cerebral palsy with knee hyperextension and ankle equines were included in this study and were fitted with bilateral moldedhinged SKAFO with pair of shoes.Methods: Observational gait analysis by video recording was performed and gait parameters by 10 m walk test and knee angle at mid stance using goniometer in standing position were recorded in bracing and non-bracing conditions.Results: The orthosis controlled knee hyperextension by not restricting normal flexion and extension moment with smooth transition of ankle motion. There was significant improvement in step length; stride length as well as knee angle at midstance (with orthosis) but velocity and cadence were reduced as compared to bare foot walking.Conclusions: A stable, natural and controlled knee hyperextension gait pattern was found.