Case Study Proc IMechE Part H: J Engineering in Medicine 2020, Vol. 234(8) 884–894 Ó IMechE 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0954411920923541 journals.sagepub.com/home/pih A case study on interface pressure pattern of two garment orthoses on a child with cerebral palsy Ida Hasni Shaari 1,2 , Noor Azuan Abu Osman 1 and Hanie Nadia Shasmin 1 Abstract Many studies have shown that medical compression products produce different levels of interface pressure during the usage of the products. However, limited studies have explored the pattern of interface pressure exerted by orthotic gar- ments. This case study aimed to investigate the pattern of interface pressure exerted by two types of orthotic garments on a child with cerebral palsy. A 13-year-old child diagnosed with ataxic spastic diplegia cerebral palsy has difficulty to per- form sit-to-stand motion even with a walking frame due to his truncal ataxia. A TheraTogs TM orthosis and a Dynamic LycraÒ Fabric Orthosis (DLFO) were prepared for the child. The child’s sit-to-stand ability without and with the usage of orthoses was recorded using five sit-to-stand tests. The garments’ interface pressure was measured using F-scan (9811E) and F-scan 6.5.1 version software. The pressure was recorded when the child was in sitting position and performing sit-to- stand-to-sit motion. Overall, the child completed the five sit-to-stand test duration within 2.53 6 0.04 s and 2.51 6 0.09 s with the usage of TheraTogs TM orthosis and DLFO, respectively. Higher pressure was exerted by Dynamic Lycra Fabric Orthosis (axillary = 122 mmHg) in contrast to TheraTogs TM orthosis (77 mmHg) when the child was in a sitting position. Lower pressure was exerted by DLFO (7mmHg), over xiphoid level and for TheraTogs TM orthosis is 1.2 mmHg over axillary level when the child was performing sit-to-stand motion. The largest range of pressure was exerted by TheraTogs TM orthosis with a minimum pressure of 5 mmHg and a maximum pressure of 155 mmHg during sit-to-stand motion. Overall, the DLFO exerted higher mean interface pressure on the child in comparison to TheraTogs TM orthosis when the child’s body was in a sitting position wearing both upper garment and pants. Both TheraTogs TM orthosis and DLFO presented a different range of interface pres- sure over different body segments and activities. Keywords Lycra, orthoses, cerebral palsy, sit-to-stand, interface pressure Date received: 15 October 2019; accepted: 9 April 2020 Introduction Children with cerebral palsy (CP) are commonly pre- sented with postural malalignment which is strongly related to muscle spasticity, muscle imbalance, and joint and segment malalignments. 1–4 Various studies have shown that orthotic garments are beneficial in providing structural correction over malalignment posture and improving functional abilities. The orthoses are mainly used by patients with neurological deficits such as adults suffering from stroke and children with CP. 5–12 Orthotic garments function by producing interface pressure over the patient’s limbs or body segment. The exerted interface pressure is expected to hold the limbs while a patient is in a static or dynamic posture. Some studies have reported a reduction in muscle spasticity and improved proximal segments stability when patients are wearing orthotic garments. 13–15 However, information about the range of interface pressure exerted by the orthotic garments when worn by chil- dren with CP is limited. Laplace’s law is used to determine the dimensions of orthotic garments based on a patient’s limb 1 Centre for Applied Biomechanics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2 Centre of Physiotherapy Study, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Corresponding author: Noor Azuan Abu Osman, Centre for Applied Biomechanics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Emails: azuan@um.edu.my; idahasni02@gmail.com