EP3439498B1

EP3439498B1 - Post-operative shoe

Info

Publication number: EP3439498B1
Application number: EP17727692.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Enrico BUZIOL; Stefano FIESCHI
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2016-04-05
Filing date: 2017-04-05
Publication date: 2020-11-11
Anticipated expiration: 2037-04-05
Also published as: EP3439498A1; WO2017175141A1; ITUA20162315A1

Description

The present invention relates to a kit for the making of a rehabilitation aid adapted to be worn by a patient in the post-operative period following surgery to the foot, such as "hallux valgus" surgery.
Known shoes specific to this type of application are usually of the sandal type, or open as they are more easily adaptable to the swollen and bandaged foot as one that just had surgery. In general, they have Velcro fastenings, to be easily wearable and an oversized vamp and sole with respect to traditional shoes, precisely in order to be worn with swollen and bandaged foot.
However, these types of shoe, albeit actually functional, have some drawbacks.
Firstly, known shoes are worn only on the foot that has undergone surgery. Therefore, they are unilateral, that is, the patient wears a standard shoe on the healthy foot. This implies bad posture and an incorrect and uncomfortable walking, with obvious inconvenience to the patient.
Moreover, since known shoes have a substantially stiff sole structure, they only have a support function, and therefore are not adapted for walking.
They are also extremely little attractive, being easthetically little appreciable and actually unusable once the post-surgery period has ended; in the latter regard, these known shoes, as mentioned above, are often too large with respect to the size of the healthy foot, are then adapted to the foot in the post-surgery phase but they cannot be fit comfortably when the foot is back to its normal size. Document BE674762 A discloses a kit according to the preamble of the appended claim 1.
The object of the present invention therefore is to solve the problems just set forth above.
A further object is to provide a shoe that can be reused even after rehabilitation. This feature is particularly beneficial in economic terms for the patient, who buys a shoe not strictly aimed for the specific rehabilitation time, but a shoe that can be reused over time, thus amortising the costs thereof.
These objects are achieved by the kit for the making of an aid for the hallux valgus post-surgery period according to the invention, whose essential features are defined by the first one of the appended claims.
The features and the advantages of the aid according to the present invention shall now be described in more detail with the following description of an embodiment thereof, made by way of a non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a side view of the shoe according to the invention;
figure 2 is top view of the shoe in figure 1;
figure 3 is a side view of a tip of the shoe in the preceding figures, with a detached and raised front portion;
figure 4 is an enlargement of a tip of the shoe in the preceding figures, with a side coating band partially removed to show a connecting area between an vamp and an outer sole of the shoe;
figure 5 is a cross section of the shoe obtained at the height of the foot tip in which the outer sole of the shoe, a midsole and a removable orthopedic insole of the shoe itself are schematically shown;
figure 6 is a cross section of the shoe obtained at the height of the foot heel;
figure 7 is an isolated representation of the midsole;
figure 8a shows the shoe sideways, with the vamp in transparency, so as to see a first removable orthopedic insole; and
figure 8b still shows the shoe in figure 8a with a second removable orthopedic insole mounted.

With reference to said figures, the invention consists of a kit for the creation of an aid for the rehabilitation of the foot in the post-surgery period, and in particular in the hallux valgus post-surgery period. The aid consists of an orthopedic shoe which in turn comprises an vamp 1 and a sole 2 (figure 4). The sole is concealed by a side coating band 3 which lines and then covers the connection between sole and vamp.
The vamp 1 comprises a main portion 1a on which a front portion 10 is defined. Front portion 10 is anteriorly integral along a transversal connecting line 100 to the main portion of the vamp; the front portion also defines side edges 101 extending substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to the connecting line, in longitudinal position or according to a longitudinal direction defined between the tip, corresponding to the area of the shoe worn by the forefoot and the heel of the shoe, which is the area of the shoe worn by the heel of the foot (by transverse direction, in contrast, it is meant that perpendicular to such a longitudinal direction). Reversible connecting means 11 rest on such side edges 101, such as, preferably but not limited to, zippers, to allow the connection or detachment of the front portion to/from the main portion of the vamp, or the lifting thereof along the transversal connecting line 100.
By virtue of the reversible connecting means 11, therefore, the front portion 10 can be fully connected to the main portion of the vamp (for example, in the preferred embodiment when the zippers are open), thus completing the profile of the shoe, or detached therefrom (always with reference to the preferred embodiment when the zippers are closed) so as to be lifted along the front connecting portion to the main portion of the vamp. The complete detachment of the front portion facilitates wearing the shoe also with swollen and/or bandaged foot.
The front portion 10 is also advantageously made in such a way as to be enlarged or narrowed transversally by acting on relative adjustment means 12. For example, the front portion can consist of two separate parts mutually connected lengthwise by means of the above adjustment means. In a preferred embodiment, the front portion 10 consists of two separate parts mutually connected by means of said adjustment means in the form of a lacing, according to a solution of known type in sneakers or tennis shoes. By tightening the lacing more or less, the shoe adapts to the various stages of foot swelling/bandage for the duration of the post-surgery period.
Returning to sole 2, with particular reference to figures 5 and 6, this consists of a first layer comprising a rubber tread 20 that defines the resting surface of the shoe on the ground (for example with knurling to prevent slipping or the like). Superimposed on such a tread 20, inside the shoe, is a midsole 21, shown alone in figure 7. Tread 20 is connected to vamp 1 and the midsole 21 by vulcanisation, according to devices known in the field of athletic shoes. The connection area between the rubber tread and the vamp is then covered by the above side coating band 3. Midsole 21 instead defines, with an upper surface thereof, the foot support when the shoe is worn.
The midsole consists of a felt matrix 210 on which an insert 211 of a shape memory material (such as polyethylene) is inserted. This insert is positioned in the forefoot area.
In addition to the shoe just described, the aid also comprises a first and a second orthopedic insole. Figures 5 and 6 schematically show the shoe and the placement of any orthopedic insole, which is depicted schematically, therefore not taking into account of the actual sizes or proportions with respect to the midsole or the tread.
Going into detail, the first orthopedic insole 4 (figure 8a) has an evenly decreasing thickness between a maximum thickness in the heel area and a minimum thickness in the forefoot area. The maximum thickness in the heel area ranging from 1.0 to 2.0 cm (with a preferred value of 1.5 cm) and the minimum thickness in the forefoot area ranging from 0.3 to 0.7 cm (with a preferred value of 0.5 cm).
The second orthopedic insole 5 (figure 8b) has an evenly decreasing thickness between a maximum thickness in the heel area and a minimum thickness in the forefoot area. The maximum thickness in the heel area is between 2 and 3 cm (with a preferred value of 2.5 cm) and the minimum thickness in the forefoot area is between 0.8 and 1.8 cm (with a preferred value of 1.5 cm).
The first 4 and the second insole 5 are made for example of, but not limited to, polyethylene.
According to a method of using the aid, the patient soon after surgery wears on the healthy foot (not subjected to surgery) a shoe according to the invention with the first orthopedic insole, while on the foot subjected to surgery he/she will wear the show without orthopedic insole. Wearing a shoe with the first orthopedic insole 4 on the foot that did not have surgery determines that the foot has a slightly sloping posture (due to the difference in thickness between the heel and forefoot of the first orthopedic insole) and this position of the foot that did not have surgery favours walking with the foot that had surgery.
About 20-30 days after surgery, time that corresponds to the removal of the bandages from the foot that had surgery, also the shoe worn by the foot that had surgery will be asociated with the first orthopedic insole, so as to restore the same axis between the shoes of both feet and allow natural walking.
About 40-50 days after the surgery, when the foot that had surgery is not swollen any more, the first orthopedic insole 4 is removed from both shoes and replaced by the second orthopedic insole 5 which, being higher than the first orthopedic insole, will favour the standard walking and the traditional fit, walking, comparable to that of any sneaker. The shoes can then be worn and used also when the foot that had surgery has healed, as traditional sneakers.
The aid just described is therefore particularly advantageous; in particular, the shoe can be worn even in the first few days after surgery and then throughout the post-surgery period.
This advantage is achieved also due to the possibility of using the two insoles 4, 5 with very different sizes; normally in a shoe one can use a single orthopedic insole with relatively small thickness variation, while in the invention the difference in thickness of the orthopedic insoles is more than one centimetre in the heel and more than 5 mm at the front.
The above vamp structure obtains a variable fit of the shoe on the user's foot by adjusting the size of the front portion through the adjustment means. Moreover, due to the presence of the front portion that can be detached from the rest of the vamp, the shoe can be easily worn or removed from the foot, particularly important feature in the case of swollen or bandaged feet typical of the post-surgery period.
The use of the vulcanised rubber outer sole and midsole (not known in the vulcanisation process for common sneakers) imparts elasticity and softness to the shoe. This technology, which is derived from the field of athletic shoes, has never been used for post-surgery orthopedic shoes for the hallux valgus pathology.
Moreover, the midsole made of felt and the insert made of shape memory material is light and provides better shock absorption compared to a conventional rubber midsole. The shape memory material, in particular, supports the foot and keeps memory of the support thereof so as to provide more elasticity to the bottom structure of the shoe. The shoe as a whole is therefore particularly lightweight and thus comfortable for the patient in the post-surgery phase but also absolutely comfortable and adapted to support and absorb walking shocks, making the patient have a painless or generally non annoying walk. The aid as a whole is therefore also adapted to allow walking directly in the post-sutgery phase.
In summary, the shoe, provided with suitable alternation of the two orthopedic insoles or alone, can be worn from the time just after the surgery and for the entire post-surgery period, on both feet, thus obtaining not only a saving in terms of money (the patient is not forced to buy new shoes after a first recovery period when the foot is less swollen) but also in terms of comfort, as wearing the same type of shoe on both feet involves a more correct and balanced walking and distribution of the body weight with an undeniable benefit for the back, pelvis and legs. The patient also has a greater psychological well-being, since he/she can immediately wear a pair of shoes totally similar in appearance to those he/she usually wears; this is due to the vamp on a vulcanised sole, a typical aesthetic aspect of a pair of sneakers.
Post-surgery shoes currently present on the market do not obtain these results as they are not bilateral, meaning that they cannot be worn on both feet but are specific to the foot that had surgery.
By using the double orthopedic insole, the shoe can be worn immediately after surgery, when the foot is swollen with the use of the first shoerter orthopedic insole 4 (achieving a greater shoe size); when the foot is not swollen any more, with the continuation of the healing phase, adding the second orthopedic insole 5 the shoe takes a normal fit.
Although it has been described in kit with the first 4 and second orthopedic insole 5, the shoe may be considered innovative even individually. In particular, the presence of the rubber tread 20 attached to vamp by vulcanisation and midsole 21 superimposed inside the tread, where the midsole comprises the felt matrix and insert 211 made of a shape memory material at the front of the shoe, intended to be the worn by the forefoot, represent features of the shoe that make it innovative even per se.
The present invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof. It is understood that other embodiments may exist that relate to the same inventive scope, all falling within the scope of protection of the following claims.

Claims

Kit for the making of a rehabilitation aid for the hallux valgus post-surgery period, comprising a shoe comprising an vamp (1) and a sole (2), said vamp comprising a main portion (1a) and a front portion (10), said front portion (10) projecting from said main portion along a connecting line (100), said front portion defining side edges (101) substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to said connecting line, said edges being arranged in longitudinal position, i.e. extending along a longitudinal direction defined on the length of said shoe, said sole (2) being a vulcanised sole, wherein said kit further comprising a first insole (4) removably associable with said shoe, said kit being characterized by each of said side edges (101) being associated with reversible connecting means (11) adapted for the reversible connection and/or detachment of said front portion (10) from said main portion (1a), and by comprising a second insole (5) removably associable with said shoe, each of said insoles having an evenly decreasing thickness between a maximum thickness in the heel area and a minimum thickness in the forefoot area, wherein the first and the second insoles have different thickness, wherein the difference in thickness between the first and the second insoles is more than one cm in the heel area and more than 5 mm in the forefoot area.
Kit according to claim 1, wherein said first insole (4) has said maximum thickness in the heel area ranging from 1.0 to 2.0 cm, and said minimum thickness in the forefoot area ranging from 0.3 to 0.7 cm.
Kit according to claim 2, wherein said maximum thickness of said first insole has a preferred value of 1.5 cm.
Kit according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said minimum thickness of said first insole has a preferred value of 0.5 cm.
Kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said second insole (5) has an decreasing thickness between a maximum value in the heel area and a minimum value in the forefoot area, said maximum value in the heel area being between 2 and 3 cm, said minimum value in the forefoot area being between 0.8 and 1.8 cm.
Kit according to claim 5, wherein said maximum thickness of said second insole (5) has a preferred value of 2.5 cm.
Kit according to claim 5 or 6, wherein said minimum thickness of said second insole has a preferred value of 1.5 cm.
Kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said sole of said shoe comprises a rubber tread (20) that determines the resting of the shoe on the ground, said tread being connected to said vamp by vulcanisation.
Kit according to claim 8, wherein said shoe further comprises a midsole (21) internally superimposed to said shoe to said tread, said midsole defining a support for the foot when this wears the shoe, said midsole comprising a felt matrix (210) on which an insert (211) of shape memory material is added, said insert being placed at the front part of the shoe, intended to be worn by a forefoot of the foot.
Kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said reversible connecting means (11) of said shoe comprise zipper closures.
Kit according to claim 10, wherein said front portion (10) of said shoe comprises two separate parts connected together lengthwise by means of adjustment means (12) by which said two parts are transversely approached or distanced.
Kit according to claim 11, wherein said adjustment means (12) of said shoe comprise a lace that engages with said two parts of said front portion according to said longitudinal direction.