Carbon Fiber Pre-Preg Orthoses
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Otto Bock Germany was showing some very interesting custom orthoses from their Cfab made from pre-preg carbon fiber material rather than the more familiar vacuum-bag laminations. The result is a super light, super thin orthosis that is about half the thickness and weight of an equivalent laminated device. Practitioners at Rancho Los Amigos in California and Malmo, Sweden have been experimenting with this technique for a number of years, but this is the first widespread commercial availability of the fabrication method to custom P&O.
Because pre-pregs require the simultaneous application of both high heat and high temperature, most fabrication is done inside an autoclave. The cost and size of this equipment makes it difficult to provide such fabrication in a local facility, but to amortize the costs in a central fabrication center makes better financial sense.
I was particularly interested in the reincarnation of Lehneis' spiral orthosis, as shown in the examples below. I had the chance to speak privately with a patient who had been wearing a pre-preg carbon fiber spiral AFO for many months, and she was very pleased with the selective control it offered as compared to her previous orthosis [which was the prefab "Toe Off" floor reaction design marketed by Camp]. She also confirmed that this material had proven durable in her experience and she had no problems with the cracking or splitting associated with spiral AFOs made from thermoplastic materials in the past.
It is ironic, but it appears that the field finally has a material suitable for making spiral orthoses many decades after Dick Lehneis, CPO, PhD first proposed the design!
