Rehabilitation medicine
Technical solutions for a range of assistive devices for individuals with disabilities
For more than 20 years, clinicians working with children with cerebral palsy have been gathering “a deluge of data” to understand and treat their patients’ walking difficulties. But they still weren’t sure which children with
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Steve Saling, an architect and engineer with ALS, helped design features of the Leonard Florence Center, Dapper McDonald ALS Residence, intended to preserve the independence of those with ALS, where he is a resident. Josh Reynolds for
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With hippotherapy, the horse provides the therapy. Three-year-old Jack Foster sat on his mother’s lap as she wrapped a towel carefully around his neck. “Jack has cerebral palsy and low muscle tone,” said his mother, Emily
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At just 18 years old, Christopher Hills is already a YouTube sensation and master video producer and editor. The Sunshine Coast teenager – who likes Doctor Who, Marvel movies and Star Wars but is most passionate about aviation
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Effects of AFOs on distance, speed vary.. A recent study demonstrates the importance of personalizing prescriptions for ankle foot orthoses (AFOs) in children with cerebral palsy, rather than applying group data to individuals.
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Athletes have been quick to embrace smart insoles and the biomechanical data generated by the devices’ embedded sensors. But experts believe smart insoles may also have potential clinical applications for patients with foot health
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In children with diplegic cerebral palsy (CP), wearing bilateral ankle foot orthoses (AFOs) that promote heel-first ground contact helps to improve stability and may reduce the risk of falls, according to research presented in March
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Patients with hemiplegia who used a functional electrical stimulation device for isolated foot drop showed no significant functional differences during gait, according to results presented at the Association of Children’s
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Children with cerebral palsy frequently undergo invasive surgeries — lengthening tendons, rotating bones, transferring muscles to new locations — in hopes of improving their physical ability to walk or move. Walk-DMC is a new,
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Typical toddlers simultaneously spend about three hours a day in physical activity, play and engagement with objects such as toys, while their peers with mobility disabilities are less likely to engage in all of those behaviors at the
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As Calgarians young and old get out to take advantage of the early summer-like weather, some youngsters face significant obstacles to the simple pleasure of riding a bike. Jeremiah Botbijl, 6, rides a customized bicycle while being
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Dillan Barmache can’t speak, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have anything to say. In fact, Dillan has complex and powerful thoughts, and thanks to easily accessible technology paired with innovative apps, you can hear his
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Ankle foot orthoses can make a neuromuscular patient’s gait pattern more like that of an unaffected person, but the devices can also be associated with compensations of their own. And in some patients, a more ‘normal’ gait
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The healing power of equine therapy. A pink-haired teenager painted two pictures on the side of her massive, living canvas. First, the girl drew a picture of a broken heart and a horse. Then, she used the paint to sketch a person and
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Over 100 children with various special needs were fitted with customized bikes in Spruce Grove on Sunday. Similarly, support for The CP Kids Adapted Bike Program in Calgary is huge. See you in Calgary on April 2, 2016. Details and
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Young adults with cerebral palsy enjoy stronger bones and greater mobility after training on a specialised vibration plate. Mobility-enhancing care in CP helps strengthen bones. Kids at the Atlanta center work on improving motor
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Orthoses, often referred to as orthotics, are traditionally passive devices worn by people to support an injured or weak body part. The ambitious, yet simple vision of this advancement in AFOs is about the look on a patient’s
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OWEN CAIN depends on a respirator and struggles to make even the slightest movements — he has had a debilitating motor-neuron disease since infancy. Photo by Alene Tchekmedyian, L.A. Times By Emily B. Hager, The New York Times
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Strategies alter ankle, knee kinematics. Floor-reaction ankle foot orthoses and wedge-based tuning significantly improve ankle and knee kinematics in children with cerebral palsy, according to separate studies from Greenvile, SC, and
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Electronic communication devices are evolving from robotic speech to personalized voices. Max Plansky is 16 years old, and like any teenager, he is trying to find his own voice. But for Max, the effort is complicated by the fact that
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Background. Pectus excavatum (PE) and pectus carinatum (PC) are the most common chest wall deformities. In this study, we aimed to characterize how patients obtained information about these deformities, as well as patients’ family
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Interventions that reduce knee buckling may help prevent falls, fall-related injuries and adverse psychological consequences of falls in persons with knee OA. Hikers in Banff National Park Symptoms of knee instability in older adults
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Register for the 2016 Adapted Bike Clinic $50 Membership entitles you to the use of a custom-fit bike for a year! Cerebral Palsy Kids and Families has hosted the Adapted Bike Clinic in Calgary for over 15 years. The Discovery
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Stance control orthoses are a new generation of orthotic intervention that could potentially be significant in assisting to improve the gait kinematics by knee-ankle-foot orthosis users. The use of knee-ankle-foot orthoses with drop
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Marc has specialized in pediatrics since 1989 when he joined the Alberta Children’s Hospital, practicing there until 1996 when he established the Braceworks clinic. He thrives on the clinical challenge of treating highly
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Kinesis is a specialty medical clinic founded by a group of physiatrists. Physiatrists are specialists in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation – nerve, muscle and bone experts who treat illnesses that affect how one moves. At
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Tomasz’s Master’s thesis was focused on the Calgary Protocol for the Treatment of Pectus Carinatum, developed by Dr. David S. Sigalet, General Surgery Clinic at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. This method of
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Comfort is the key because the brace is worn continuously to provide compression during regular daily activity. Patients are more compliant with the Braceworks PC brace and encouraging results are often apparent early in treatment.
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The Calgary Protocol: bracing for Pectus carinatum. The Braceworks Pectus Brace® is a cost-shared benefit insured by Alberta Aids to Daily Living (AADL). With AADL, patients are responsible for 25 percent of the total cost of the
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The Calgary Protocol: bracing for Pectus carinatum BACKGROUND Multiple treatment options currently exist for the correction of pectus carinatum (PC). We performed a survey of Canadian pediatric surgeons to define current practices.
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