Our research shows that the appropriate design and tailoring of splints can reduce the energy used by children with CP while increasing their speed and distance, compared with a splint which is not fine-tuned. This is something which could have a significant impact on their quality of life.

During the study, the researchers analysed the walking pattern of children with cerebral palsy at our gait laboratory and participants were assessed while barefoot and with both non-tuned and tuned splints.

Children wearing the fine-tuned splints showed improvements in several areas including hip and pelvic function and knee extension, while a non-tuned splint potentially showed a decrease in hip function.

The full research findings, which were published in the June edition of the Foot Journal, are available below:

• Does user perception affect adherence when wearing biomechanically optimised ankle foot orthosis – footwear combinations: A pilot study
• The effect of tuning ankle foot orthoses-footwear combinations on gait kinematics of children with cerebral palsy: A case series
• Ankle Foot Orthoses: Standardisation of Terminology