Effects of ankle stiffness on daily-life activities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17979/ja-cea.2025.46.12039Keywords:
Daily-life activities, Ankle-foot orthosis, Stiffness, AnkleAbstract
The capacity to perform basic activities of daily living (ADLs) is essential for personal independence. This requires multi-joint coordination and proper voluntary control, which is normally limited in people with neurological and motor disorders. Ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) are often used to support ankle motion and improve mobility in these individuals. A key feature of these devices is the stiffness at what the AFO is configured, which highly influences the outcomes. This study focuses on analyzing the effects of different ankle stiffness conditions during ADLs. Five healthy subjects wore the inGAIT-VSO while performing ADLs at four different conditions (Low, Medium, High and No stiffness). The results show that increased stiffness reduces ankle range of motion (ROM) and influences muscle activity with differences across activities. These findings might provide valuable insight into AFOs behavior and stiffness adjustments to enhance performance in ADLs.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Sabela Otero, Edwin van Asseldonk, Cristina Bayón
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