[Clinical application and research progress of foot and ankle assistive devices]

Foot and ankle assistive devices are a type of external apparatus that improves functional impairment or structural abnormalities of the lower limbs through biomechanics. They act on ankle and musculoskeletal system of foot through customized or standardized structural designs, aiming to alleviate patients' pain, improve gait stability, and delay progression of disease. At present, there are a wide variety of foot and ankle assistive devices in China, but their application in the field is not sufficient. Their main function still remains at long-term immobilization. For diseases such as abnormal lower limb muscle strength after stroke, congenital clubfoot, and congenital flatfoot, there are already various innovative assistive devices that could play a corrective role and improve the lower limb activity function of patients. In recent years, 3D printing technology has been able to achieve both "static" and "dynamic" correction functions, meeting the evolving process of orthopedic diseases. Meanwhile, the intelligent sensing and real-time feedback system could use algorithms to monitor abnormal gait or pressure distribution in the foot in real time, and adjust the supporting force of the auxiliary device. Based on this, through an overview of common classifications of ankle-foot assistive devices currently available, and by reviewing and summarizing the latest clinical research progress of ankle-foot assistive devices, it is hoped to provide ideas for clinical application.