Optimal Design of Orthosis during Walking in Water for the Rehabilitation of ACL Injury

The objective of this study was to design an orthosis during the exercise of walking in water for the rehabilitation of ACL injury. In the rehabilitation of ACL injury, it is necessary to train the muscles around the knee joint. In particular, compared to the knee flexors, the knee extensors are less exerted in the normal walking form while walking in water. Therefore, the orthosis, by which the knee extensors can be trained, was optimally designed by the simulator which can compute the body load considering the fluid force and force acting on the ACL. The characteristics of the orthosis obtained by the simulation are the large width of the thigh and foot parts and the small density of the shank and foot parts. Second, the orthosis was manufactured based on the simulation design. Finally, the effectiveness of the manufactured orthosis was confirmed by comparing the muscle force analyzed in the simulation with the electromyogram measured in the subjective experiment.