A customizable knee brace for use in the treatment of osteoarthritis is provided. The customizable knee brace includes a lateral upright. The lateral upright includes at least a first semi-rigid support, a second semi-rigid support, and a hinge physically coupling the first semi-rigid support and the second semi-rigid support. The customizable knee brace further includes a thigh cuff constructed of formable material and coupled to the first semi-rigid support. The customizable knee brace further includes a shin cuff constructed of formable material and coupled to the second semi-rigid support. The customizable knee brace further includes an elastomeric web framework coupled to the lateral upright and configured to secure an area of a knee of a patient when wearing the customizable knee brace. The customizable knee brace further includes at least one tensioning element configured to adjust a tension of the elastomeric web framework.

The invention relates to an orthosis comprising: a first fastening element (15) for fastening a first orthosis component (10) to a proximal body part of a user; a second orthosis component (20) having a second fastening element (21) for being fixed to a distal body part of the user; and a joint device (30) which is located at the proximal end (22) of the second orthosis component (20) and which has a joint upper part (40) and which makes it possible for the second orthosis component (20) to pivot about a joint axis (4) in the sagittal plane relative to the joint upper part (40), the joint upper part (40) being mounted or designed on the first orthosis component (10) in a fastening device (11) so as to be pivotable and/or displaceable in the frontal plane and so as to be rotationally rigid in the sagittal plane.

A support device comprising at least one skeleton structure and at least two coupling articles, wherein each of the two coupling articles are connected to an end section of the skeleton structure, such that the support device includes at least four degrees of freedom.

A knee device and method of stimulating muscles is disclosed. The knee device includes a knee brace with a support frame and vibration components. The vibration components are connected to the support frame by adjustable arms that allow for precise adjustments in the spatial position and orientation of the vibration components. The vibration components can be activated by the ambulation of a user.

A brace for augmenting movement of a user's limb about a joint includes an upper arm having an engaging portion for engaging against the user's limb above the joint, and an attachment portion, a lower arm having an engaging portion for engaging against the user's limb below the joint, and an attachment portion, the lower arm being pivotable relative to the upper arm, at least one compression element disposed in fixed relation to at least one of the upper and lower arms, and a substantially inelastic tensioning element affixed to the other of the upper and lower arms over at least one tensioning element tensioning member such that a user applies a force to move the brace to a loaded position in which the at least one compression element is loaded and upon removal of the applied force the at least one compression element applies a restoring force to urge the brace out of the loaded position, the at least one compression element comprising a hydraulic tension spring disposed in fixed relation to at least the other of the upper and lower arms, comprising a pair of cylinders mounted within a frame, each cylinder having a sealed portion defining a liquid containment space, for each of the pair of cylinders, a piston comprising a piston rod, the piston rod comprising a compressing portion having a smaller diameter than the cylinder and extending axially through a hydraulic seal into the liquid containment space, and an external portion accessible from outside the liquid containment space, one of the cylinder and the piston being fixed relative to the frame and the other of the cylinder and the piston being movable axially relative to the frame, a guide for maintaining the movable one of the cylinder and the piston oriented axially relative to the frame, and a compression element tensioning member bearing against the movable one of the at least one cylinder and the piston, for compressing the at least one cylinder relative to the piston, whereby when the frame is fixed in place and tension is applied to the tensioning element tensioning member, the compressing portions of the piston rods intrude further into the liquid containment space, compressing the hydraulic fluid and loading the spring.

An articulated coupling or joint (10) for orthopedic braces or orthoses comprises a pair of bars or uprights (14, 15), a proximal end of each of these being rotatingly mounted around an axis defined by its rotation pin (25), this proximal end of the bars or uprights being toothed and engaging with a common grooved cylindrical cursor (20) translatable along an additional axis, the other distal end of the respective bars (14, 15) being fixable to a portion of the body of the patient to be treated. Each bar or upright (14, 15) is mounted on a respective element (12, 13) on which the respective rotation pin (25) is mounted and which itself is rotatingly mounted on an additional pin (18) coaxial with the additional axis; moreover, the additional pin (18) is mounted on a platform (11), a surface of which rests against the body of a patient to be treated, the two bars (14, 15) thus being able to simultaneously rotate both around their own primary centres of rotation represented by their rotation pins (25) and around a common centre of rotation represented by the additional pin (18).

Systems and methods are provided for supporting an arm of a user using a harness configured to be worn on a body of a user; and an arm support coupled to the harness configured to support an arm of the user, the arm support configured to accommodate movement of the arm while following the movement without substantially interfering with the movement of the user's arm. One or more compensation elements may be coupled to the arm support to apply an offset force to at least partially offset a gravitational force acting on the arm as the user moves and the arm support follows the movement of the user's arm, the one or more compensation elements providing a force profile that varies the offset force based on an orientation of the arm support.

In one embodiment, the orthotic device can include a powered hand portion, a switching element, and a controller. The wearer can interact with the switching element to generate input signals for adjusting an operation of the powered hand portion. The controller can receive the input signals and generate control signals to accordingly adjust the operation of the powered hand portion. In some embodiments, a powered hand portion can be comprised of a plurality of linkages and at least one powered actuator to assist with an opening and closing of the hand portion. The plurality of linkages can be operated by at least one electric motor with quick-connect elements to link onto fingers of a user. In some embodiments, an electrically-actuated clutch mechanism can be affixed to an upper arm section and a lower arm section of an orthotic device. The clutch mechanism can be configured into different positions.

An exoskeleton for a limb of a user wherein the limb has an upper portion that is pivotally mounted to another part of the exoskeleton about a pivot axis and the upper portion is drivingly connected to the exoskeleton by a force applied via a drive force transmission axis that is vertically offset from the pivot axis.

An orthopedic device is arranged for dynamically treating the knee. The device includes a hinge assembly, a frame having an upper cuff and a lower cuff spaced apart from and connected by the hinge assembly, and a dynamic shell connected to the frame and extending along the first side of the brace. An adjustment system is connected to the dynamic shell and includes a tensioning element operatively engaging the shell and the hinge assembly. The adjustment system is arranged to increase and decrease tension in the tensioning element. The dynamic shell is arranged to be drawn toward the frontal plane as the orthopedic device goes from an extension orientation to a flexion orientation.