summary of VSP and Ballert KAFO?'s
Barnhart Prosthetics
Description
Collection
Title:
summary of VSP and Ballert KAFO?'s
Creator:
Barnhart Prosthetics
Date:
7/6/2007
Text:
Hello,
Here is a summary of the responses received to my previous post:
I have 2 seperate ?'s:
1. Besides Sammons Preston, where do you get Ballert KAFO's for trial fitting?
HAH! I laughed when I saw this question!
I contacted Ballert Orthopedic and requested one be made only to be told
that they were out of stock and would have some made in a few weeks. I
called 4 weeks later and heard the same thing. 6 weeks more went by and I
called again, sorry, they're not available yet. I asked to speak to the
owner and was told he was on vacation. I asked if he knew they were running
the company so poorly while he was out. A few days later I got a call from
their marketing person saying they were having difficulty producing them due
to design improvements being made that needed to be tested. I told her I
wouldn't be needing them anyway, that the parts are readily available in
other forms and that my technicians would love the challenge to make some.
Last word is, they don't sell them direct to other companies, only
distributors.
(I Called, left message, haven't heard back from Ballert, NK)
Our Cfab, AOPS provides a similar product.
The web address is <URL Redacted>
You can all my brother Mike and ask him about it.
2. Have you had a VSP Flexfoot that has a chatter feel to it when weight bearing? We installed a new grease seal, is well lubricated, the pipe that goes into the tube is clean and smooth, yet still chatters (catches slightly multiple times in the range of its depression). Any experience with this would be helpful.
check that the four bolts are facing up with nuts on top. If they're put on the opposite way, the screws can hit the cylinder...
Check the bushings on the leaf spring as those were the cause of most of my VSP headaches.
As a side note...I have since converted most of my VSP and Ceterus wearers to Trulife's Catalyst foot. I've found the Catalyst provides even more motion in all planes and fewer or no maintenance issues.
Clamp maybe too tight....
Is this unit under a metal clamp? I've seen this happen when the old fitting clamps were over tightened and deforming the outer tube.
For the VSP, check the torque spec on the clamp bolts. It's very minimal.
If you over tighten it, the motion will not be as smooth.
(Spoke with Ossur again, their engineer feels that the outer tube is probably worn out, I checked all the above and more, to no avail, am getting an outer tube to try to fix it. NK)
Thanks,
Nathan Keepers, CPO
____________________________________________________________________________________
Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.
<URL Redacted>
Here is a summary of the responses received to my previous post:
I have 2 seperate ?'s:
1. Besides Sammons Preston, where do you get Ballert KAFO's for trial fitting?
HAH! I laughed when I saw this question!
I contacted Ballert Orthopedic and requested one be made only to be told
that they were out of stock and would have some made in a few weeks. I
called 4 weeks later and heard the same thing. 6 weeks more went by and I
called again, sorry, they're not available yet. I asked to speak to the
owner and was told he was on vacation. I asked if he knew they were running
the company so poorly while he was out. A few days later I got a call from
their marketing person saying they were having difficulty producing them due
to design improvements being made that needed to be tested. I told her I
wouldn't be needing them anyway, that the parts are readily available in
other forms and that my technicians would love the challenge to make some.
Last word is, they don't sell them direct to other companies, only
distributors.
(I Called, left message, haven't heard back from Ballert, NK)
Our Cfab, AOPS provides a similar product.
The web address is <URL Redacted>
You can all my brother Mike and ask him about it.
2. Have you had a VSP Flexfoot that has a chatter feel to it when weight bearing? We installed a new grease seal, is well lubricated, the pipe that goes into the tube is clean and smooth, yet still chatters (catches slightly multiple times in the range of its depression). Any experience with this would be helpful.
check that the four bolts are facing up with nuts on top. If they're put on the opposite way, the screws can hit the cylinder...
Check the bushings on the leaf spring as those were the cause of most of my VSP headaches.
As a side note...I have since converted most of my VSP and Ceterus wearers to Trulife's Catalyst foot. I've found the Catalyst provides even more motion in all planes and fewer or no maintenance issues.
Clamp maybe too tight....
Is this unit under a metal clamp? I've seen this happen when the old fitting clamps were over tightened and deforming the outer tube.
For the VSP, check the torque spec on the clamp bolts. It's very minimal.
If you over tighten it, the motion will not be as smooth.
(Spoke with Ossur again, their engineer feels that the outer tube is probably worn out, I checked all the above and more, to no avail, am getting an outer tube to try to fix it. NK)
Thanks,
Nathan Keepers, CPO
____________________________________________________________________________________
Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.
<URL Redacted>
Citation
Barnhart Prosthetics, “summary of VSP and Ballert KAFO?'s,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 2, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/228449.
