Creep evaluation of (orthotic) cast materials during simulated clubfoot correction. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2012;2012:3352-5
Date
02/01/2013Pubmed ID
23366644DOI
10.1109/EMBC.2012.6346683Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84870849012 3 CitationsAbstract
The Ponseti method is a widely accepted and highly successful conservative treatment of pediatric clubfoot that relies on weekly manipulations and cast applications. However, the material behavior of the cast in the Ponseti technique has not been investigated. The current study sought to characterize the ability of two standard casting materials to maintain the Ponseti corrected foot position by evaluating creep response. A dynamic cast testing device (DCTD) was built to simulate a typical pediatric clubfoot. Semi-rigid fiberglass and rigid fiberglass casting materials were applied to the device, and the rotational creep was measured at various constant torques. The movement was measured using a 3D motion capture system. A 2-way ANOVA was performed on the creep displacement data at a significance level of 0.05. Among cast materials, the rotational creep displacement was found to be significantly different (p-values ≪ 0.001). The most creep displacement occurs in the semi-rigid fiberglass (approximately 1.0 degrees), then the rigid fiberglass (approximately 0.4 degrees). There was no effect of torque magnitude on the creep displacement. All materials maintained the corrected position with minimal change in position over time.
Author List
Cohen TL, Altiok H, Tarima S, Smith PA, Harris GFAuthors
Gerald Harris PhD Director in the Orthopaedic Research Engineering Center (OREC) department at Marquette UniversitySergey S. Tarima PhD Associate Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Analysis of VarianceCasts, Surgical
Child
Clubfoot
Humans
Materials Testing
Orthotic Devices
