Controlled motion ankle fracture walker

Claim 1

A controlled motion ankle fracture walker, comprising: a rigid foot-supporting shoe having means for releasable attachment to the foot of a patient, the shoe extending under the patient's foot and along lateral and medial sides of the foot below the ankle joint of the patient, the foot-supporting shoe having a curved bottom for rolling contact with the ground to provide a rocking heel-to-toe motion of the foot of the Patient, the shoe having rigid lateral and medial side arms rigidly affixed to and extending from corresponding sides of the shoe to the vicinity of the lateral and medial sides of the ankle joint of the patient, leg support means for releasable attachment to the leg of the patient above the ankle joint of the patient, the leg support means having rigid lateral and medial ankle rotation control members for extending along the lateral and medial sides of the patient's leg above the ankle joint, and means for rigidly affixing the lateral and medial ankle rotation control members to the leg support means to hold the control members in a fixed position on the lateral and medial sides of the patient's lower leg above the ankle joint, and adjustable double action ankle joints adjacent the lateral and medial sides of the ankle joint, comprising lateral pivot means rotatably interconnecting the lateral ankle rotation control member to the lateral side arm of the foot-supporting shoe and medial pivot means rotatably interconnecting the medial ankle rotation control member to the medial side arm of the foot-supporting shoe so that the control members are rotatable through an angle relative to the corresponding side arms of the shoe, said rotation being about a transverse pivot axis through the ankle joint of the patient, said angle defining an arc of ankle rotation passing from a first angular position in dorsiflexion through a neutral upright position to a second angular position in plantar flexion the double action ankle joints further including angle adjustment means for selectively setting an angle at which the control members are held relative to the side arms of the shoe or for selectively controlling an arc through which the control members rotate about the pivot means, so that the control members can be selectively set in a fixed position at a preset dorsiflexion angle, a neutral position, or at a pre-set plantar flexion angle; or the control members selectively allowed to rotate continuously through a controlled angular range of motion within pre-set limits in dorsiflexion only, in plantar flexion only, or in combined dorsiflexion and plantar flexion, the leg support means being interconnected to the foot-supporting shoe so that the ankle joint of the patient has freedom to flex about said pivot axis under the control of said double action ankle joints for permitting angular rotation of the leg support means relative to the shoe about the pivot axis through the ankle joint of the patient so that a patient wearing the walker can apply weight to the ankle joint as the shoe rocks the foot through a heel-to-toe walking gait while the double action ankle joints control the pre-set angle or the range of angular motion of the patient's ankle joint within said pre-set limits.