KR20220061791A - Claw toe assist device for stroke patient - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a claw toe assist device for a stroke patient, comprising: a cylindrical body surrounding the user's calf; a footrest extending to one side based on a lower part of the body to support the sole of the user's foot; and a pad provided on one side of the upper surface of the footrest to fix the user's toe. Therefore, there is an effect of assisting the gait of a stroke patient by distributing the excessive load generated on the claw toe.

Description

Claw toe assist device for stroke patients {CLAW TOE ASSIST DEVICE FOR STROKE PATIENT}

The disclosed technology relates to a device for assisting a claw toe for a stable gait of a stroke patient.

Stroke patients have difficulty walking due to foot drop and claw toe. Even when rehabilitation training for gait is performed in hospitals, only the intervention for foot paws is focused, and the intervention for claws is not performed.

On the other hand, pedicelosis refers to a phenomenon in which the anterior part of the foot sags due to muscle paralysis due to nerve weakness or damage in the foot and ankle, which causes abnormalities in gait. Accordingly, patients suffering from foot prolapse are being helped in walking by using an ankle-foot orthosis (AFO). As such, in the case of foot and foot orthosis, intervention is performed through an ankle-foot orthosis, whereas the claw joint has a small size, making it difficult to intervene, and there is no separate device to intervene.

On the other hand, stroke patients had a deformed foot shape due to a clawed toe, causing pain or discomfort while walking, and had difficulties in wearing shoes. Therefore, there is a need for a device that can mediate the paws and the toes at the same time.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2020-0041645

The disclosed technology is to provide a device for assisting the claws for stable walking of stroke patients.

A first side of the disclosed technology to achieve the above technical problem is a cylindrical body surrounding the user's calf, a footrest extending to one side based on the lower portion of the body to support the user's sole, and one side of the upper surface of the footrest It is provided in to provide a claw assist device for stroke patients including a pad for fixing the user's toes.

Embodiments of the disclosed technology may have effects including the following advantages. However, since it does not mean that the embodiments of the disclosed technology should include all of them, the scope of the disclosed technology should not be construed as being limited thereby.

According to an embodiment of the disclosed technology, the device for assisting a forked toe for a stroke patient has an effect of dispersing an excessive load generated on the toe to assist the stroke patient's walking.

In addition, it has the effect of easily changing the pad for fixing the toe according to the preference of the stroke patient.

1 is a view showing a state of wearing a claw assist device for a stroke patient according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology.
2 is a view showing an actual implementation example of the claw assist device.
3 is a view showing a state in which toes are fixed to a plurality of holes.
4 is a view showing a plurality of silicone cushions.

Since the present invention can have various changes and can have various embodiments, specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms such as first, second, A, and B may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the above terms, and only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components. is used only as For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, a second component may also be referred to as a first component. and/or includes a combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items.

In terms of terms used herein, the singular expression is to be understood as including the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. And terms such as “comprising” mean that the specified feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or a combination thereof exists, but one or more other features or number, step operation component, part part It should be understood as not excluding the possibility of the presence or addition of or combinations thereof.

Prior to a detailed description of the drawings, it is intended to clarify that the classification of the constituent parts in the present specification is merely a division according to the main function each constituent unit is responsible for. That is, two or more components to be described below may be combined into one component, or one component may be divided into two or more for each more subdivided function.

In addition, each of the constituent units to be described below may additionally perform some or all of the functions of other constituent units in addition to the main function it is responsible for. Of course, it can also be performed by being dedicated to it. Accordingly, the existence or non-existence of each component described through the present specification should be interpreted functionally.

1 is a view showing a state wearing a claw assist device for a stroke patient according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. Referring to FIG. 1 , the claw assisting device 100 includes a body 110 , a footrest 120 , and a pad 130 .

The body 110 is a cylindrical body surrounding the user's calf. The material of the body 110 is formed of a material having elasticity so that a user can put his or her feet there. For example, it may be formed of a silicone synthetic resin. The body 110 has a structure in which the user's feet enter through the upper part and the feet come out through the lower part. Therefore, the perimeter of the upper part is wide and the perimeter of the lower part is formed narrower than the upper part. And since the body part to be worn includes the user's feet and ankles, a hole is formed in the upper part in a horizontal direction and a hole is formed in the lower part in a vertical direction on one side. In FIG. 1 , the hole is formed only on the side where the user's foot comes out in the lower part of the body, but the hole may also be formed on the heel side.

The footrest 120 extends to one side with respect to the lower portion of the body 110 . The material for forming the footrest may be a synthetic resin such as polyurethane or carbon rubber, which is used to manufacture general shoe soles. Of course, the footrest can be made of a material having elasticity so that the angle of the ankle can be adjusted to some extent so that the user does not feel discomfort when walking. A material capable of buffering action can be added to the upper surface of the The length of the footrest 120 may be determined according to the size of the user's foot. The footrest 120 may extend in a direction of a hole formed in the lower portion of the body 110 . The footrest 120 may support the user's sole and tow the foot so that foot drop does not occur.

The pad 130 is provided on one side of the upper surface of the footrest. For example, the pad 130 may be formed in an area where the toes are located when the user wears the auxiliary device. In the case of stroke patients, part or all of the toes become claw toe, in which the toes are bent regardless of their will. Therefore, it is possible to distribute the excessively biased load by assisting the claws using the pad 130 . For example, it is possible to distribute the load by supporting the space formed under the toe. In one embodiment, the load may be distributed in such a way that the toes are respectively inserted into the plurality of holes formed in the pad 130 so that the toes are not bent.

On the other hand, as described above, the pad 130 of the auxiliary device is used to distribute a load excessively concentrated on a specific toe or to stably support the toe when the user walks, and the pad 130 is used to stably support the toe according to the toe condition or the user's preference. You can use a silicone cushion that can fill the space below. That is, it is possible to maintain a stable state even when walking for a long time by inserting and fixing each toe in the plurality of holes formed in the pad 130 , and using a silicone cushion supporting the lower part of each toe together.

On the other hand, a plurality of piezoelectric sensors for sensing the pressure generated on the lower surface of the toes are provided between the footrest and the pad. A plurality of piezoelectric sensors sense the pressure generated on each toe. The claws that occur in stroke patients are not in a fixed shape, but in various shapes, and the degree of deformation may vary from person to person. Therefore, since different pressures may be generated for each toe, it is desirable to individually sense the pressure applied to the toes. For this purpose, a piezoelectric sensor may be provided for each position of the toes. In addition, it is possible to detect the pressure generated by each toe and convert it into an electric signal of a corresponding value.

On the other hand, the pressure of each toe sensed in this way is transmitted to the user's smartphone. The auxiliary device is provided with a communication device that wirelessly communicates with the user's smartphone. The communication device may be provided on one side of the body. When the communication device receives the pressure of each toe from the plurality of piezoelectric sensors, the communication device may check the pressure for each position of the toes according to the order of the plurality of piezoelectric sensors. For example, the first piezoelectric sensor is a piezoelectric sensor that senses the pressure of the big toe, the second piezoelectric sensor is a piezoelectric sensor that senses the pressure of the index toe, the third piezoelectric sensor is the middle toe, the fourth piezoelectric sensor is the ring finger, No. 5 piezoelectric sensor may be to sense the pressure of the little toe. Of course, the order of the piezoelectric sensors may be reversed, and the number of the piezoelectric sensors may be adjusted according to the number of toes of the user. The communication device transmits the sensed value of the pressure for each position of the toe according to the order of the piezoelectric sensor as described above to the user's smartphone.

A user interface may be output to the user's smartphone so that the user can easily grasp the state of the foot with the naked eye according to the sensed value transmitted from the communication device. An application for outputting such a user interface may be installed in the smartphone. In an embodiment, an image of both feet may be output to the screen, and the sensed pressure and pressure strength may be output for each position of each toe. In the application, the appropriate pressure value for each toe determined in advance according to the diagnosis of the specialist is stored, and the level of pressure for each toe is compared with the detected value and a separate text is printed at the location of the corresponding toe, but the color of the corresponding toe is set to red. can be output as

On the other hand, according to the user's setting, the application may record the detected value transmitted from the communication device in units of daily, weekly, or monthly and compare them. For example, in the case of daily recording, the level of pain according to the sensed value applied to the user's toes every hour may be output to the user interface. Therefore, it is possible to respond sensitively to the user's foot condition that changes in units of time. Using the information output on the smartphone, the user or guardian can change the type of pad to a silicone cushion or band according to the pressure of each toe, and adjust the size or length of the silicone cushion currently in use to prevent the occurrence of problems when walking. It can reduce pain.

2 is a view showing an actual implementation example of the claw assist device. As shown in FIG. 2 , a plurality of holes included in the pad may be implemented in the form of a plurality of rings. The pad including a plurality of rings that can fit each of the claws can be adjusted in size using bands protruding from both sides. For example, the user can adjust the toe ring at the corresponding position by pulling or stretching the ring of a specific turn, or by pulling the protruding ends on both sides of the pad, each ring can be adjusted to more tightly fix the toe. As described above, it is possible to prevent bending of the toes in the form of claws by using the pad implemented in the form of a plurality of rings. The material of the pad may also be formed of a material having elasticity, and it can help the user to walk stably by firmly supporting the toe so that the user does not bend the toe when walking.

Compared with the conventional orthosis for preventing foot dislocation, the auxiliary device according to the disclosed technology does not stop at simply preventing foot dislocation, but can effectively reduce pain caused by excessive load applied to the toe of a stroke patient. Therefore, it is possible to inspire the rehabilitation will of stroke patients and to perform high-efficiency gait rehabilitation training.

3 is a view showing a state in which toes are fixed to a plurality of holes. Figure 3 shows the separation of the pad from the auxiliary device for the wearing appearance, as shown in Figure 3, by inserting each toe in a plurality of holes (Hole) formed in the pad can be fixed so as not to bend the toes. The pad may be formed of a soft and elastic material so that the user does not feel pain while the toe is fixed. And it can be formed in an ergonomic shape so that the space between the toes is not uncomfortable.

4 is a view showing a plurality of silicone cushions. Referring to Figure 4, the pad includes a plurality of silicone cushions for supporting the space formed on the lower surface of the toe. The plurality of silicone cushions may have different sizes depending on the shape of the toes. For example, when the index toe is bent a lot, in order to prevent excessive pressure from being generated on the index toe, the size of the silicone pad at the index toe position may be increased or the height may be formed higher. Because the size of each toe is different and the degree of deformation due to disability is also different, the size of the silicone cushion can be customized for each toe. Therefore, it is possible to prevent pain from occurring even when walking for a long time by evenly distributing the load applied to the toes.

The claw assist device for a stroke patient according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology has been described with reference to the embodiment shown in the drawings for better understanding, but this is only an example, and those of ordinary skill in the art can use various It will be understood that modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the true technical protection scope of the disclosed technology should be defined by the appended claims.

Claims (5)

A cylindrical body surrounding the user's calf;
a footrest extending to one side based on the lower portion of the body to support the sole of the user; and
A claw assist device for stroke patients including; a pad provided on one side of the upper surface of the footrest to fix the user's toes. The method of claim 1,
The pad includes a plurality of silicone cushions supporting the space formed on the lower surface of the toe,
The plurality of silicone cushions are different in size according to the shape of the toe, a claw assist device for a stroke patient. The method of claim 1,
The pad is provided with a plurality of holes for fixing each toe, and the plurality of holes are adjusted in size by pulling bands protruding from both sides of the pad. The method of claim 1,
A plurality of piezoelectric sensors for sensing the pressure generated on the lower surface of the toes are provided between the footrest and the pad,
The plurality of piezoelectric sensors is a claw toe assisting device for stroke patients sensing the pressure of each of the toes. 5. The method of claim 4,
A communication device for wirelessly communicating with the user's smartphone is provided on one side of the body,
The communication device receives the pressure of each of the toes from the plurality of piezoelectric sensors, checks the pressure for each position of the toes according to the order of the plurality of piezoelectric sensors, and sends the sensed value for the pressure for each position of the toes to the smartphone Transmitting clawed toe assist device for stroke patients.

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