the rehab solution for ankle sprain, fracture, plantar fasciitis and osteoarthritis.
Anton Sostaric is the Australian distributer of the minitalus
The minitalus locks in your foot and shin to isolate eversion and inversion movements. Perfect for ankle strengthening, motor control and proprioception training
The minitalus can be used in a sitting position. This is the ideal position for strengthening the dorsiflexors and plantarflexors
The minitalus can be used in long sitting or lying in bed. This is the ideal position for strengthening the invertors and evertors and for post operative rehab in your hospital bed
The tension of the elastic bands can be adjusted in the horizontal plane to modify the inversion and eversion resistance
The minitalus resistance can be adjusted in the sagittal plane to modify dorsi flexion and plantar flexion resistance
The minitalus locks in the shin to isolate the ankle muscles and tendons
The minitalus locks in your foot as the anchor point for initiating ankle movements
Dimensions L42.5 x W25.5 x H59 cm
Weight 6.5 Kg
Maximum excursion for plantar-dorsi flexion 30 °
Maximum excursion for inversion and eversion 16 °
miniTalus technical information
OPERATING PRINCIPLE AND PERFORMANCE
miniTalus is based on the principle of adjustable elastic resistance and is intended to be
used for the rehabilitation of the ankle and associated muscular groups.
The device enables immobilization of the foot onto a pedal and fixation of the lower leg to a metal frame.
The pedal can be rotated along two axes that are perpendicular to the frame in order to produce both a dorsi/plantar flexion and inversion/eversion movement of the ankle.
The presence of elastic straps between the pedal and frame enables movements to be performed with
different loads.
This configuration offers the advantage of being able to define specific movements and workloads for
the ankle.
The center of rotation of the pedal has been placed as close as possible to the axis of rotation of the
ankle in order to avoid the risk of having another part of the body work in the ankle's place, for example
by pushing or pulling the hip in order to obtain the desired pedal deflection.
The single isolated movement that can be obtained is much more specific compared to floor exercises.
This is also why the elastic straps are fixed onto the frame, or more specifically to the leg close to the
knee, rather than to external parts.
The exercise can be performed lying on a bed with the leg stretched and bent at different angles or sitting.
Each elastic strap has a traction adjuster, which enables to adjust the force and to loosen and pull the adjusting straps in pairs in order to change the resting angle of the foot. This offers the additional
advantage of being able to select the desired angle for the required elastic reaction.
Like all elastic devices, the elastic tubes of miniTalus have a specific resistance that can be expressed
using Hooke's law: F= P + (K x L) where the required force (F) is determined by the pre-load (P) of the inserted elastic straps added to the product of the elastic constant (K), typically dependant on the actual strap used, and its elongation (L).
This configuration offers a series of advantages compared to mechanical actuators because of the
characteristics of the elastic straps that oppose a resistance that increases with elongation.
The elastic reaction of Minitalus can be summarized as follows.
Force moments at an excursion of 20° with elastic straps completely stretched or loosened:
1 Plantar or dorsi flexion with stretched elastic straps = 16N.m 2
2 Plantar or dorsal flexion with loosened elastic straps = 10 N.m2
3 Inversion/eversion with stretched elastic straps and front fittings moved to the lateral position
= 2.4 N.m
4 Inversion/eversion with loosened elastic straps and front fittings moved to the limit position
= 2 N.m
5 Inversion/eversion with stretched elastic straps and front fittings placed at the center
= 1.2 N.m
6 Inversion/eversion with loosened elastic straps and front fittings placed at the center
= 0.8 N.m
The elastic straps naturally tend to deform over time thus offering a slighter lower resistance after a few
months/years of use. This deformation has however no effect on controlateral assessments.
The elastic resistance of miniTalus offers also other interesting characteristics like very smooth
movements and the absence of inertia that typically characterizes machines that involve the use of weights.
This device is particularly recommended for post-traumatic, post-surgical and neurological orthopedic rehabilitation.