"CONTROL DEVICE FOR ADJUSTABLE-ANGLE ORTHOPEDIC BRACES"

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TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention concerns a control device for managing and setting the angular excursions of adjustable-angle orthopedic braces.

More specifically, the invention refers to a control device designed to be fitted to articulated joints for the knee or for other joints, such as the elbow or the ankle, with adjustable angular excursion.

The control device according to the invention acts as an interface between the articulated joint of a brace, that can be fitted during sports activities and postoperative rehabilitation, and the subject who must wear it for certain periods.

The articulated joint can also be fitted in order to control tibial pathological rotation, translation and hypertension.

This invention can be applied in the health-medical industry and specifically in the production sector of orthopedic instruments and accessories in general, as well as of prostheses and braces mainly used in conservative, post-traumatic, rehabilitation and post-operative treatment.

BACKGROUND ART

It is known that for some orthopedic disorders , particularly those involving the knee, the elbow or the ankle, such as following injury to the ligaments or other parts of the joints or following surgery, it is necessary to use a knee brace or prosthesis for the leg or the arm that is designed to act as a hinged restraint, for example

between the femur and the tibia in the leg, supporting most of the stress that would otherwise be harmful for the rehabilitation of the knee.

We will consider the example of the knee joint, and thus of knee braces, although it is understood that the same concept can be applied to other braces, for example for the elbow, the ankle or other parts of the arms or legs .

Knee braces and other braces for the arms and legs usually consist of a rigid frame that encircles the limb at the level of the joint in order to relieve the joint of all the stress that would otherwise be harmful when the injured and/or convalescent subject walks.

The frame of the knee brace or other similar brace generally comprises means of restraint to the femur and the tibia in zones close to the knee and a structure which connects these means consisting of a hinge positioned at the level of the knee.

According to the known technique, an articulated joint for a knee brace usually consists of a pair of reciprocally hinged discs, each attached to a respective upright which is in turn fixed to the limb of the user.

Since it is indispensable in post-traumatic therapy for the angular excursion between the discs to be limited to within a range that gradually increases over time, and a different degree of control must be ensured for the angular excursion during extension with respect to the angular excursion during flexion, the articulated joint must foresee adjustment devices that are easily accessible as well as easily maneuverable.

According to the known solutions, traditional articulated joints comprise a pair of outer discs connected to a femoral upright and hinged to an intermediate disc connected to the tibial upright, where

each outer disc presents at least one toothed circumferential slot designed to accommodate a pair of cursors, in which these cursors can be radially moved inside these outer discs, in opposition to elastic loading means positioned between the said cursor and the central rotation pin of the articulated joint.

It has been found that the adjustment of such an articulated joint for orthopedic braces creates some difficulties for specialized orthopedic staff and, according to precise indications of family doctors, also for the user in cases where it is possible for the user to personally adjust the brace.

All the solutions described which foresee the use of orthopedic braces fitted with an articulated joint, particularly knee braces, are limited in functionality, first of all because they do not foresee sufficiently precise means of adjustment.

In fact, adjustment of the means that control angular excursion is entrusted to very approximate reference elements, being represented by notches or incisions that are often difficult to see and do not allow the necessary precision in adjusting the brace in its various extension and flexion positions.

This is particularly disadvantageous if one considers that a brace should instead be adjusted according to precise angular excursions that should remain limited within a range that gradually increases over time.

This is why the articulated joint for orthopedic braces as they are currently conceived are inadequate for the correct rehabilitation of the joint to be treated.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention proposes to provide an adjustable- angle control device designed for the management and

setting of the angular excursions of orthopedic braces, in particular braces for the knee joint or any other joint, that can eliminate or at least reduce the problems described above. In particular, the control device designed for the management and setting of the angular excursions of orthopedic braces according to the invention proposes to overcome the drawbacks caused by the traditional impossibility of precise adjustment of the joint's angular excursions other than by excessively empirical and thus imprecise intervention.

The invention also proposes to provide a control device designed for the management and setting of the angular excursions of orthopedic braces which is easy to construct so as to be economically advantageous as well as extremely efficient from the point of view of versatility.

Another advantage proposed by the invention is to provide a control device designed for the management and setting of the angular excursions of orthopedic braces that is equipped with means that are suitable for the visual control and, if necessary, the recording of information relative to the amplitude and the progress of the movements made during the angular excursion of the knee during rehabilitation. This is achieved by means of a control device designed for the management and setting of the angular excursions of orthopedic braces with the features described in the main claim.

The dependent claims describe advantageous embodiments of the invention.

The proposed aims are achieved, according to the invention, by a control device designed for the management and setting of the angular excursions of orthopedic braces, in particular adjustable-angle knee braces, which

substantially consists of a recorder, fitted at the level of the joint providing the information and equipped with an LCD type display which on one hand displays the numerical references relative to the position of the adjustment cursors or pins and on the other makes it possible to display various types of information such as the time taken to perform an exercise, the maximum extensions and flexions achieved during the exercise, as well as the dynamic indication of the position of the articulated joint.

The control device according to the invention can be fitted to the articulated joint of the orthopedic brace, that is to say close to the pair of outer discs connected to the femoral upright and hinged to the intermediate disc connected to the tibial upright.

In such an articulated joint on which the control device according to the invention is fitted, each outer disc presents at least one toothed circumferential slot designed to accommodate cursors, generally two, connected to a strip that can be radially moved in opposition to a spring and free to move inside the outer discs in order to adjust the extension and flexion angles of the knee brace.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other features and advantages of the invention will become evident on reading the following description of one embodiment of the invention, provided as a non-binding example, with the help of the accompanying drawings in which: - figure 1 represents the schematic front view of the control device according to the invention, fitted on the articulated joint of a knee brace;

- figure 2 shows the schematic and prospective view of the control device according to the invention, fitted

on the articulated joint of a knee brace;

- figure 3 is the schematic front view of a dial with the various types of information displayed;

- figure 4 shows the schematic and prospective view of a possible variation of the control device.

DESCRIPTION OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The control device -designed for the management and setting of the angular excursions of adjustable-angle orthopedic braces is indicated overall with the number 10, and substantially consists of a dial encircled by a crown 11 and placed over the articulated joint of an orthopedic brace between the femoral upright 12 and the tibial upright 13. The control device 10 according to the invention can be fitted to the articulated joint of the orthopedic brace, that is to say close to the pair of outer discs connected to the femoral upright 12 and hinged to the intermediate disc connected to the tibial upright. In such an articulated joint on which the control device according to the invention is fitted, each outer disc presents at least one toothed circumferential slot designed to accommodate two pins 14 and 15, connected to a strip that can be radially moved in opposition to a spring and free to move inside the outer discs in order to adjust the extension and flexion angles of the knee brace.

By observing the dial in figure 3, it can be seen that it presents an outer semicircular sector 16 showing the angles in which the extension cursor 14 functions, and an adjacent semicircular sector 17 showing the angles in which the flexion cursor 15 functions.

The outer crown consisting of the semicircular sectors 16 and 17 is made from plastic material or aluminium with printed indications.

The outer circle also includes the control buttons mode 18 and set 19.

Inside the outer circle and occupying the entire inner central zone of the dial is an LCD display. The outer circle of this area includes an indicator BI showing the pre-set extension limit, adjacent to the indicator 20 showing the pre-set flexion limit.

The sector 21 is a -dynamic indicator of the current angular position of the brace. The centre of the dial includes various types of numerical references relative to the number of extensions and flexions performed, that is to say the instantaneous measurements of the extension and flexion positions and, if required, the maximum numbers reached or the duration of the exercise.

Figure 5 shows a block diagram relative to the functioning and control procedures of the device according to the invention.

In this block diagram it can be seen that the control system manages its data according to the mechanical presetting of the position of each of the two cursors 14 and 15, that is on the basis of their angular position which determines the maximum extension and flexion excursions.

Figure 4 shows another embodiment of the control device according to the invention, considering the possibility that further construction variations can be envisaged.

In this case the numerical display is positioned on one of the two uprights, while the dial with the angular references of the extension and flexion positions is close to the articulated joint.

In any case, the display and its control elements are physically connected to a sensor positioned at the level of the pin of the articulated joint, this sensor being

sensitive to the angular movements of the articulated joint.

The display is powered by a source of energy generally consisting of one or more batteries. Any other construction variation that envisages the use of control devices that can be fitted close to or on the articulated joints of orthopedic braces with adjustable angular excursion may be considered as being within the scope of the invention. As can be noted, this solution offers the possibility of using a control device designed to manage and set the angular excursions of orthopedic braces that is equipped with means for the visual control and, if necessary, for recording the information relative to the amplitude and the progress of the movements made during the angular excursion of the knee, or other joints, during rehabilitation.

The invention is described above with reference to a preferred embodiment. It is nevertheless clear that the invention is susceptible to numerous variations that lie within its scope, in the framework of technical equivalents .