This invention relates to orthotic devices, particularly impact pad cushioning devices for cushioning impact forces that collide with impact sensitive parts of the human body.
Wrist fractures and hip fractures are perhaps some of the most common skeletal site injuries of humans. For example, wrist fractures have an incidence of about 1 in 500 for the general population and hip fractures, particularly amongst elderly Americans, are common. As a further indicia of the commonality of hip fractures amongst older Americans, in the year 2000 more than 340,000 older Americans sustained hip fractures at a cost of nearly $20 billion. More than 90% of such hip fractures are associated with falls. These few statistics alone demonstrate the need for protective and preventive technology to avoid such fractures rather than have our country and its economy sustain the economics of post injury treatment.
Devices used as external protectors are of course known and have been used in the past for almost every sensitive area of the body from head to shoulder, to forearm, to wrist, to knee, to shin, to ankle, etc. Just to name a few examples of such devices: air bags, crash helmets, foam rubber dash boards, playground surfaces, track and field pits, athletic footwear with cushions, etc. To date, none of these devices as used have succeeded in developing a structure that equals the impact resistance ability of normal human bone. Put another way, the human skeleton is already optimized by nature to absorb impact. This is because of the physics involved. The skeleton seems to recognize almost a fact of physics, i.e., that if collision time is extended or increased the forces of impact will decrease. This implies that if there is some deformation of the impact surface before zero velocity is reached, the forces experienced will decrease. As a result, for example, we now have soft nosed cars, rather than the hard thick steel front ends of past days, for example, the 1930's and 1940's. However, this recognition that slow deformation decreases the forces of impact is one thing, putting this to use in making body part protectors, i.e., pads, is quite another thing.
The current design of energy absorbing orthotic devices uses a variety of foamed and/or microcellular thermoplastic materials known in the industry as thermoplastics (TP's) or thermoplastic electomers (TPE's), gels, etc. In orthopedic technology, these materials have been applied to the foot for use in orthotic and athletic footwear. However, no one has yet made a material paralleling the internal lattice-like structure called trabeculation with cells and fluids interspersed among the trabecula that occurs in human bone. The property of human bone referred to here is “viscoelastic properties”. By viscoelastic we mean to define a material which has some of the properties of a solid, and some noncompressable properties of a fluid that demonstrates both viscous and elastic behavior under stress, which results in a continuous creep or displacement as force increases, resulting in an even greater resistance to motion.
Accordingly, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide new orthotic devices and methods which employ viscoelastic polymeric materials in pads to provide a response to impact forces that mimics the trabeculator architecture response of human bone and the cells and fluid interspersed within the lattice-like structure of human bone. The orthotic devices for which the impact pad containing the viscoelastic polymer may be used are many and not intended to be limiting. Those include heel cushions, hip pads, bone spur pads, wrist pads, elbow pads, shoulder pads, thigh pads, forearm pads, head protectors and shin and ankle protectors, among others.
The method and manner of accomplishing the primary objective as well as others will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention which follows.
It is understood that minor changes and modifications that occur to one of skill in the art may be made and still fall within the scope and spirit of the invention.
An impact pad containing orthotic device for cushioning body parts comprising a covering pad for placement in close proximity to body parts to be protected and a viscoelastic polymeric material placed within the pad which mimics the trabeculator architecture of cancellous bone. This results in an enhanced ability to resist impact forces with minimum fracture damage to the underlying human body structure.
Other orthotic devices besides those illustrated and described herein may as well be employed. The important point being that the viscoelastic polymeric material can be used as the padding in any orthotic device which is designed to cushion body parts against impact.
Trabecular bone 12 has an internal lattice-like structure called trabeculation (see
Upon impact trabecular bone 12 provides a viscoelastic response because of the combination of the maze-like structure of the bone 12 with its voids 14 to form an internal lattice-like structure filled with the cells 16 and fluid 18. Viscoelastic response is used herein as earlier defined. Briefly it can be illustrated using
The viscoelastic material which can be placed within the pad of the orthotic device can be selected from a variety of viscoelastic polymeric materials, including Sorbethane®, Supracor®, Confor® foam, Poron® (a cellular urethane), Micro-cell Puff®, a laminated version of Poron, polyurethanes, polyolisocyanates, polystyrenes, polyvinyls, certain polyvinyl acetates and poly-alpha-olefins. The precise polymeric material is not critical, as long as it is a compressible polymeric viscoelastic material which exhibits and/or mimics the trabecular architecture of cancellous bone. Certain of these polymeric materials are formed by mixing at least two and in some instances more monomer components. Their formation is well-known to those skilled in polymer arts and need not be generally described herein. For example, The Condensed Chemical Dictionary describes general preparation of many such polymeric materials useful herein. To make the material mimic viscoelastic properties it is essential that the polymerized material be formed in a manner which imparts voids 14 to it (see
A variety of polymeric materials were tested using a simple but effective egg-experiment. After the polymer material was formed an egg was taped onto a slab of material. This was then dropped vertically onto a concrete surface from a height of 40 inches, chosen arbitrarily as a height from which a wrist would be positioned at the start of a fall during, for example, snow-boarding activity. The polymer material as tested ranged in thickness from ⅛ inch to about ¾ inch. Those materials which survived without the egg breaking were tested further for effective use in injury reduction from a single impact force. When this egg drop test was used with the materials currently used in commonly available orthotics, such as for example wrist protectors, it revealed that those currently in use do not absorb the energy in the most ideal fashion, and in fact, only alter the injury pattern, as opposed to effectively functioning in a preventive manner. In contrast, the materials that passed this test which had viscoelastic properties provide maximum force dissipation in accordance with the proven physics of collision protection.
As a result of this observed phenomena, many orthotic devices such as earlier mentioned can be made and correspondingly applied to a variety of sports, team and individual uses, including football, snow boarding, roller blading, hockey, and almost any other kind of sport and its associated protectors. Examples of each device are illustrated below.
In summary, it can be seen that this invention utilizes a new viscoelastic material that mimics the trabecular architecture of cancellous bone for soft goods as a padding material in orthotic devices of wide application. The result is new and dynamic impact response that should enhance protection in a variety of human endeavors. It therefore can be seen that the invention accomplishes all of its stated objectives.
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