May 20, 2009 – Ultraflex, the sole leader in orthotic adjustable dynamic response technology, announced today the launch of the UltraSafeGait™ pediatric ADR-AFO. The pediatric version is now available in markets around the world including the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan. The UltraSafeGait™ Adjustable Dynamic Response ADR-AFO pediatric version now completes the adjustable dynamic response product line which also includes the adult versions, UltraSafeStep™ ADR-AFO, ADR-KAFO, and the convertible ADRKAFO/AFO with the Ultraflex UltraQuickRelease™.
Ultraflex’s exclusive adjustable dynamic response technology is designed for managing gait dysfunction. Ultraflex ADR addresses the limitations of conventional orthoses, including the limitations associated with solid AFOs, hinged AFOs, carbon dynamic, ground reaction AFOs, DAAJs, and stance control orthoses (SCOs). This breakthrough technology eliminates limitations associated with conventional orthoses by providing customized treatment of deficits resulting in a more biomechanically normal gait. The technology presents compensating orthotic intervention for each phase of the gait cycle. With Ultraflex’s ADR, unprecedented stability and motion is now available to the developing child with challenging neurological presentations such as cerebral palsy. Adult patients in the acute and chronic phases of neurological recovery with conditions such as post-stroke and post-polio have been benefiting from the technology since January 2004.
“This is a welcome development from Ultraflex, a company with a well-earned reputation for innovation, most notably in the area of precise dynamic stimulus bracing as a conservative intervention for spasticity management,” said Keith M. Smith, CO, LO, FAAOP. The UltraSafeGait™ Adjustable Dynamic Response ADR-AFO pediatric version complements Ultraflex’s pediatric therapeutic line of stretching braces which are designed to increase muscle length for the growing child with spasticity. Children with movement and posture disorders can now fully benefit from the gains in muscle length achieved with Ultraflex therapeutic bracing while ambulating with UltraSafeGait™. This is made possible because unlike conventional orthoses, UltraSafeGait™ provides for a patient-specific, optimal functioning gait.
UltraSafeGait™ Adjustable Dynamic Response technology provides a sought after orthotic solution for the heretofore unmet orthotic needs of children with crouch gait types, equinus gait types, and all of their variants. This revolutionary technology provides patients with natural range of motion (ROM) that is stabilized, thereby limiting the compromises often associated with conventional orthoses. UltraSafeGait™ Adjustable Dynamic Response technology provides adjustable muscle augmentation, stability in stance, smooth/natural rollover, and clearance in swing, making Ultraflex’s technology unparalleled.
“UltraSafeGait™ for children and UltraSafeStep™ for adults Adjustable Dynamic Response (ADR) technology is the result of nearly two decades of collaboration, research, and longstanding associations with multidisciplinary professionals in the field of movement and posture disorders, gait analysis, and physical rehabilitation,” said Mark D. DeHarde, President and founder of Ultraflex Systems, Inc. Ultraflex technologies uniquely address the rehabilitation challenges associated with preserving and restoring movement, posture, balance, and strength. “The rehabilitation team’s clinical assessment values and treatment goals drive our individual brace design, making the individualized orthotic intervention truly a patient inspired solution,” DeHarde further stated.
The introduction of UltraSafeGait™ coincides with the 2009 Annual Meeting of The Association of Children''''s Prosthetic-Orthotic Clinics in Tempe, Arizona.