Abstract: Objective To explore the effect of the simple flexible ankle-foot orthosis on the hemiplegic patient's gait.Methods There are 22 hemiplegic patients (observation group) and 21 healthy individuals (control group) involved in the study. The parameters of gait are collected and analyzed.Results With the simple AFO, the walking time and knee flexion degree of the patients at Brunnstrom stage Ⅳ and stageⅤ are close to that of healthy individuals. When the patients at Brunnstrom stage Ⅲ walk with plastic AFO and then with the simple flexible AFO, there is a obvious difference in knee flexion degree at the initial stage of standing between the two situations.Conclusion The simple flexible AFO can improve the walking ability of hemiplegic patient with light tip foot.

Key words: flexible ankle-foot orthosis, hemiplegia, gait analysis