In this week’s blog, we demonstrate the AFO strategy used by Insightful Products to attach the AFO or ankle brace to the shoe using Velcro. The foot and ankle brace is attached to the shoe using a hook and loop pile. By attaching the ankle brace to the shoe, the …
Multiple Sclerosis, Drop Foot, and the Step Smart Brace
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an erratic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disturbs the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. With MS related drop foot, the myelin sheath (a substance that protects nerve fibers in the nervous system) and nerve fibers …
Maine inventor ‘bends boundaries’ to make it easier to walk or stop a skateboard
Bangor Daily News Excerpt. By Beth Brogan, BDN Staff. SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Ian Engelman arrived at his office Tuesday morning and poured black polyurethane into a mold, spilling some onto layers of protective cardboard covering a table but filling the 7-inch, nose-shaped vessel to create a skateboard brake. When it sets, …
Saying ‘PTTD’ is misleading: It’s time for a new lexicon to distinguish pathologies
Lower Extremity Review (LER) Magazine Excerpt. By Ian Engelman, MS, CPO. Ian Engelman, MS, CPO, developer of the patented Blaze MI AFO for medial column breakdown, is owner and President of Insightful Products, LLC. He also developed the Step-Smart Brace for drop foot and the Funnel shoe horn. Have you read …
Back Surgery Drop Foot Brace Frustration
Frustration with his old drop foot brace led Joe, from Massachusetts to contact us at Insightful Products, about our Step-Smart Brace for Drop foot. Following back surgery over 15 years ago, Joe, like many who go through such surgeries, found he had developed drop foot. Seeking relief Joe had tried …
Running with Drop Foot : Bobby’s Step-Smart Brace Experience
Earlier this year, Bobby and his mother visited our offices to learn more about the Step-Smart Drop Foot Brace and try one out for himself. We are excited to share his story and this inspirational video with you! Meet Bobby: Bobby developed drop foot after an accident. During his …
Ernie’s Step-Smart Brace Experience
Earlier this past summer, we had the pleasure of welcoming Ernie to our our headquarters, in Scarborough, Maine, for a consultation with Ian Engleman, CPO, inventor of the Step-Smart Brace and founder and owner of Insightful Products! Ernie drove up from Rhode Island o learn more about the Step-Smart and see if it would suit his drop foot needs.
Bilateral Drop Foot solution for Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT)
A bilateral drop foot patient is able to walk better immediately after putting on the Step-Smart braces for Drop Foot. This patient has Charcot Marie Tooth. Without any practice, the patient put on the braces, and we filmed before and after he tried the Step-Smart brace. After a little practice, …
Back on the Dance Floor with a Step-Smart® Drop Foot Brace
In this post, we wanted to share a testimonial from a customer who was overjoyed with the results of his Step-Smart brace! In this exciting reveal, he talks about how the Step-Smart Brace allowed him more independence and confidence with each step…
Bob’s Drop Foot Solution
Feeling dissatisfied with the options presented to him, Bob took to the internet to do some research on his own. Read more to hear about what he found…
Drop Foot and Sandal Modification
Welcome to the Insightful Blog! Today’s video shoes how some simple shoe modification can allow Step-Smart Brace users to wear sandals with their brace! Click the image above to read more and watch the video!
Living with Drop Foot: Footwear, What a Difference a Shoe Makes
If you feel held back by your foot drop brace, the Insightful Blog is here to share information on the Step-Smart Drop Foot Brace and help you understand if this could be the right solution for you! As the Step-Smart Brace is a custom-fit (meaning off the shelf, not fully custom) results and outcomes will vary from person to person. We share tutorial and testimonial videos to help you better understand the drop foot solutions designed and manufactured by Insightful Products.