Patent Application
20210299514
The present invention relates to an ankle rehabilitation device and method for the use thereof, and more in particular, to an ankle rehabilitation device that enables patients to perform 4-way ankle exercise without clinicians' assist and method for the use thereof.
Ankle injury is common in athletic activity. After getting an ankle injury, strengthening the ankle is necessary for the next step of rehabilitation. The range of ankle injuries is from mild sprain (grade 1) to severe sprain (grade3). In all cases of ankle injuries, loss of function of supporting soft tissues is inevitable. When soft tissues have been injured, there is always malfunctioning of ankle ability occurred, depending on the severity of tissue damage.
The purpose of strengthening the ankle after the injury is to heal the damaged tissue faster and prevent the recurrence of the injury. Pain control and swelling decreasing is the first step of rehabilitation. After pain and swelling have subsided, restoration of a normal range of motion and strengthening the ankle is a necessary step for faster healing.
In the early stage of rehabilitation, regaining of a normal range of motion and strengthening the soft tissues is important to realign the damaged tissue and prevent damaged tissue from shortening while it's healing because the shorten and/or damaged tissue causes a decreased range of motion of the joint and recurrent injury further.
However, rehabilitation through clinicians' assist takes a lot of time and money. Thus, a simple therapeutic ankle rehabilitation device that is low in cost and easy to use is needed for patients who have a mild or moderate ankle injury so that the patients can manage the rehabilitation process without clinicians' assist.
An object of the present invention is to provide an ankle rehabilitation device that is durable, cost effective, and easy to use and helps patients perform 4-way ankle exercise without clinicians' assist.
The ankle rehabilitation device according to the present invention includes a plate member, one or more straps fixed to a front surface of the plate member and configured to hold a user's foot, and two rings fixed to a rear surface of the plate member wherein the two rings are aligned in a lateral direction of the plate member and spaced by a predetermined distance. Through the use of a method and the device in accordance with the present invention, a user who has a mild or moderate ankle injury will be able to perform an affordable ankle exercise without clinicians' assist, thereby helping the user restoring the ankle strength.
Each of the one or more straps may include a male fastener and a female fastener wherein the male fastener and the female fastener are configured to be coupled each other and a holding length of the each strap is adjusted by changing a coupling position of the male fastener and the female fastener. The one or more straps may be made of an elastic material or leather. The plate member may be made of polycarbonate or steel and the size of the plate member may be varied to accommodate various sizes of the users' feet.
As a patient performs ankle exercise with the ankle rehabilitation device, the patient may choose a resistance band such as THERA-BAND exercise band, hook the resistance band into the two rings, place his injured foot on the front surface of the plate member and hold the injured foot with the one or more straps, grab both ends of the resistance band, and pull the resistance band for resistance.
The ankle rehabilitation device according to the present invention enables patients to perform 4-way ankle exercise without clinicians' assist when the patients have a mild or moderate ankle injury. The ankle rehabilitation device is simple, affordable, durable, cost effective, easy to use, and portable.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention provides an ankle rehabilitation device that enables patients to perform 4-way ankle exercise without clinicians' assist. Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
An ankle rehabilitation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plate member 10, one or more straps 20 fixed to a front surface of the plate member 10 and configured to hold a user's foot, and two rings 30 fixed to a rear surface of the plate member 10.
As illustrated in
Through the use of a method and the device in accordance with the present invention, a user who has a mild or moderate ankle injury will be able to perform an affordable ankle exercise without clinicians' assist, thereby restoring the ankle strength. The ankle rehabilitation device 100 is specially designed to restore ankle strengthening and stretching. The main ankle exercise motion contains dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, supination, and pronation. The dorsiflexion can be defined as motion occurring in the sagittal plane that the foot moves toward to the body. Plantarflexion is the opposite of dorsiflexion and can be defined as motion occurring in the sagittal plane that the foot moves away from the body. The supination of the ankle can be defined as motion that combination of plantarflexion, inversion, and adduction of the ankle. Pronation of the ankle can be defined as motion that combination of dorsiflexion, eversion, and abduction of the ankle. The ankle rehabilitation device 100 according to the present invention helps patients perform the 4-way ankle exercise without clinicians' assist when patients have a mild or moderate ankle injury.
As a patient performs ankle exercise with the ankle rehabilitation device 100, the patient may choose a resistance band 40 such as THERA-BAND exercise band, hook the resistance band 40 into the two rings 30, place his injured foot on the front surface of the plate member and hold the injured foot with the one or more straps 20, grab both ends of the resistance band 40, and pull the resistance band 40 for resistance.
The ankle rehabilitation device 100 according to the present invention is simple, affordable, durable, cost effective, easy to use, and portable. Through the use of a method and the ankle rehabilitation device 100 in accordance with the present invention, a user who has a mild or moderate ankle injury will be able to perform an affordable ankle exercise without clinicians' assist, thereby restoring the ankle strength.
