Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026
A Passive Ankle Dorsiflexion Testing System for an In Vivo Model of Overuse-induced Tendinopathy
Published on: March 1, 2024
Design of a manual device to measure ankle joint stiffness and range of motion
Toshiki Kobayashi1, Aaron Kl Leung, Stephen W Hutchins
1Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China. tkobayashi@orthocareinnovations.com
Background And Aim:
Ankle joint stiffness and its range of motion (ROM) are commonly assessed to determine the appropriate mechanical characteristics required in an effective ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) prescription. The aim of this technical note is to present the design of a manual device that enables their convenient measurement in the clinical setting and to demonstrate its reliability.
Technique:
The manual device was designed with a torquemeter, a potentiometer, a steering wheel, a rotary plate, and a foot plate. The measurement of resistive torque at 0° (neutral), 5° (dorsiflexion) and 10° (dorsiflexion) ankle angular positions demonstrated the high reliability of the device with Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) (1,k) values over 0.97.
Discussion:
Quantitative measurement of ankle joint stiffness and ROM by this manual device would provide objective information that could potentially assist AFO prescriptions. A future study should investigate how to incorporate the measurement obtained from the device into the prescription of an AFO.
