What Are the Next Steps in Designing an Orthosis for Paraplegic Subjects?

Background: over the years, various types of orthoses have beendesigned to assist subjects with spinal cord injury (sci) to stand andwalk. however, the functional performance of the orthoses has notbeen adequate, that is, patients experience stability problems, consumeexcessive energy during ambulation, and generally require assistance indonning and doffing the devices. this research is aimed at categorizingthe available orthoses designed specifically for sci patients and tocompare the available orthoses according to the energy consumption,stability analysis, and gait parameters.methods: an electronic search was done in pubmed, embase,and isi web of knowledge databases to extract data related to 1960 –2010. the available orthoses were characterized based on the level ofstabilization they provided and the source of power used. the orthoseswere compared based on the stability, energy consumption, and gaitperformance parameters, according to the results of various studiescollected from the literature review.results: among various orthoses designed for paraplegicsubjects, the mechanical orthoses seemed to have a better performance.moreover, donning and doffing of the mechanical orthosis was easierfor the subjects.conclusion: although the hgo has better functional performancethan other available orthoses, the subjects are more willing to usethe rgo. the new design of orthoses must allow easy donningand doffing by the users, have enough stability during walking andstanding, and enable the patients to change the alignment of theorthosis to suit their needs.