ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,551,364, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to Ortho Systems (Agoura Hills, Calif.).
"Orthopedic walking boot" was invented by Kenji Watabe (Ventura, Calif.), Tracy E. Grim (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Edwin Erwin (Studio City, Calif.) and Zhaung Shao (Canoga Park, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An orthopedic walker is disclosed that improves comfort and shock absorption during use by incorporating a flexure zone that deflects to ease the forces caused by the heel strike portion of a patient's gait. The flexure zone is created by cutting around the heel on the bottom of the sole to allow for the heel portion to flex. The exterior shell o...