GB1141095A - Improvements relating to orthopaedic appliances - Google Patents

Abstract

1,141,095. Surgical supports. YARDNEY ENTERPRISES Inc. 29 July, 1966, No. 34242/66. Heading A5R. An orthopaedic appliance comprises a thin resilient sheet-like brace unit which is adapted to conform to the contours of the lower back of the wearer and to maintain such conformity while allowing the body of the wearer its normal freedom of motion. The brace unit has a size and shape such as to encompass laterally at least the anterior posterior curvatures and the medio-lateral curvatures and to extend upwards at least for a distance sufficient to stabilize the lumbo-sacral-iliac area, for example at least to the twelth dorsal vertebra. The brace unit preferably is in combination with flexible binder means adapted to encircle the lower back and abdomen of the wearer so that the brace unit is held firmly and securely in conforming relation to the contours of the lower back. As illustrated in Figure 2, the orthopaedic appliance 10 comprises a waistband 15 in the central portion of which is a pocket 13 adapted to receive a brace unit 11. The waistband includes side portions having converging upper edges 21 and 23 and lower edges 22 and 24 and terminating in ends 25 and 26 which are provided with fastening means, for example burr-type loops and hooks 18 and 19 of for instance nylon. The waistband may consist of fabric material having gussets 17 of elastic material; alternatively, the entire waistband may be made from elastic material. As illustrated in Figure 5, the brace unit has a central portion 33 extending laterally into side portions 14 and 16, the lower edge 27 of the unit preferably being formed with a projection 28 which is adapted to be positioned between the buttocks of a wearer to give support to the sacrum. An extension 34 may extend from the upper edge 35 of the unit to form a support for the upper back and/or neck; such an extension may be provided with auxiliary retaining straps (not shown). The brace unit may be provided with means, for example pores or openings (not shown), to allow for transpiration therethrough of air and water vapour. A pad of soft resilient material, for example foam rubber or plastics material, may be secured to that side of the brace unit which will be adjacent the body of the wearer. The brace unit may be manufactured by preparing a cast of the lower back of the wearer, forming a mould from the cast, and shaping a mouldable material upon the mould to form the brace unit. The shaping may be attained either by forming under pressure or by the operations of heating and vacuum forming. The mouldable material preferably is a resinous material, for exmple an acrylic, epoxy or phenolic resin, polystyrene or a polyester; the resinous material may be combined with an inelastic reinforcement, for example glass fibres.