A hinged ankle brace including a foot pad member and an ankle cuff which are hingedly secured together by flexible joint members. The flexible joint members yieldably resist hinged movement between the foot pad member and the ankle cuff.

A knee brace includes a thigh fixing part, a shank fixing part, an outer leg joint that couples the thigh fixing part with the shank fixing part, and an inner leg joint that couples the thigh fixing part with the shank fixing part. When the wearer P flexes his/her knee joint, a lower arm is rotated with respect to an upper arm along with a rotation fulcrum shaft sliding in a long groove and a cam shaft sliding in a cam groove. When the outer leg joint and the inner leg joint are extended, the lower arm of the outer leg joint is configured to be moved relatively forward with respect to the lower arm of the inner leg joint.

A knee brace includes a support module including a first body, a second body, and a hinge movably coupling the first body to the second body. The includes a pin on one of the first and second bodies, and a receptacle on the other of the first and second bodies. The receptacle is configured to receive the pin therein, such that the pin is rotatable and translatable within the receptacle. The knee brace also includes a fastener configured to releasably attach the knee brace to a leg. One of the first and second bodies couples with a first portion of the leg via the fastener, and the other of the first and second bodies couples with a second portion of the leg via the fastener. The first and second portions of the leg are separated by a knee joint of the leg.

A knee orthosis is provided. In described embodiments, the knee orthosis is designed to follow a natural movement of a wearer's knee along an asymmetric helicoidal axis of rotation. In some embodiments, the knee orthosis has hinges with shells having displacing geometric centers which do not coincide. In some embodiments, the knee orthosis is made of femoral and tibial hinges manufactured as single integral pieces. In some embodiments, the orthosis is configured to realign the wearer's knee in a frontal plane. Corresponding methods for designing and manufacturing a custom knee orthosis are also provided.

A hip joint orthotic that can be used in stages. In the first stage the orthotic includes a stiff relatively brace assembly that can limit the amount of allowed flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction. In the second stage the relatively stiff brace can be removed and the orthotic can be used as a soft wrap. In both stages the orthotic is configured to easily mount and retain a thermal pack in a desired position or positions. In many instances the thermal pack will be a cold pack, but in some cases a hot pack may be used as well.

A joint mechanism 4 has a zigzag structure 13 extending in a zigzag pattern between a first member 11 and a second member 12. A flexible lengthy member 16 fixed to the first member 11 extends from the first member 11 toward the second member 12 and is travelable with respect to the second member 12. A tension application unit 30 that applies a tension to the flexible lengthy member 16 is configured to be capable of changing a tension to apply.

An orthotic brace and brace hinge are disclosed where the brace hinge comprises a multiple hinge elements and at least one hinge element having a magnetic field that provides a magnetic force urging one hinge elements in a pre-determined direction. Embodiments generally utilize magnetic forces to stabilize, influence and/or maintain adjacent joint portions in pre-determined desired relationships and for constraining motion and/or rotation of the joint portions. Through the use of the repelling and attracting forces of magnets, mechanical forces in the brace and brace hinge can be replaced or supplemented to reduce the force put on joint bones, to influence the bones so that the joint is biased into certain positions or to apply different forces through different points of joint flexion. Embodiments of braces with magnetic fields on other brace elements are also disclosed.

A knee brace includes a support module including a first body, a second body, and a hinge movably coupling the first body to the second body. The hinge includes a pin and a receptacle in the first and second bodies. The pin defines a plurality of teeth thereon and the receptacle defines a plurality of teeth therein. The plurality of teeth on the pin are configured to engage with the plurality of teeth in the receptacle such that the pin is rotatable and translatable within the receptacle. The knee brace also includes a fastener configured to releasably attach the knee brace to a leg. The first and second bodies couples with a first portion of the leg and with a second portion of the leg via the fastener. The first and second portions of the leg are separated by a knee joint of the leg.

A knee brace includes a thigh fixing part, a shank fixing part, an outer leg joint that couples the thigh fixing part with the shank fixing part, and an inner leg joint that couples the thigh fixing part with the shank fixing part. When the wearer P flexes his/her knee joint, a lower arm is rotated with respect to an upper arm along with a rotation fulcrum shaft sliding in a long groove and a cam shaft sliding in a cam groove. When the outer leg joint and the inner leg joint are extended, the lower arm of the outer leg joint is configured to be moved relatively forward with respect to the lower arm of the inner leg joint.

A knee orthosis is provided. In described embodiments, the knee orthosis is designed to follow a natural movement of a wearer's knee along an asymmetric helicoidal axis of rotation. In some embodiments, the knee orthosis has hinges with shells having displacing geometric centers which do not coincide. In some embodiment, the knee orthosis is made of femoral and tibial hinges manufactured as single integral pieces. In some embodiments, the orthosis is configured to realign the wearer's knee in a frontal plane. Corresponding methods for designing and manufacturing a custom knee orthosis are also provided.