title: Selective laser sintered versus carbon fiber passive-dynamic ankle-foot orthoses: a comparison of patient walking performance.
abstract: Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a well-suited additive manufacturing technique for generating subject-specific passive-dynamic ankle-foot orthoses (PD-AFOs). However, the mechanical properties of SLS PD-AFOs may differ from those of commonly prescribed carbon fiber (CF) PD-AFOs. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine if biomechanical measures during gait differ between CF and stiffness-matched SLS PD-AFOs. Subject-specific SLS PD-AFOs were manufactured for ten subjects with unilateral lower-limb impairments. Minimal differences in gait performance occurred when subjects used the SLS versus CF PD-AFOs. These results support the use of SLS PD-AFOs to study the effects of altering design characteristics on gait performance.
authors.forename: Nicole G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.forename: Elizabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wilken
authors.forename: Richard R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Neptune
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000842:Ankle; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002244:Carbon; D000077482:Carbon Fiber; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D061826:Foot Orthoses; D005684:Gait; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D016138:Walking
chemical_list: D000077482:Carbon Fiber; D002244:Carbon