OP 7600: Upper Limb Orthotics

2 Credit Hours
Concurrent: OP 7600L
This course focuses on the basics of upper limb orthotic management and how orthoses control the motion and function of persons with disorders and injuries to the neurological, skeletal, and muscular systems. This course explores concepts of custom and pre-fabricated orthoses to the upper limb involving the fingers, hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder.

Course Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

Identify the osteokinematic axes of rotation, degrees of freedom and the motions of all upper limb joints.
Distinguish between normal and abnormal ROM values of scapula, shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist and digits.
Distinguish between normal and abnormal strength of muscles that move the scapula, shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist, and digits.
Describe the biomechanical motion controls provided by typical upper limb orthoses for the scapula, shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist, hand and digits.
Perform history taking of a patient to identify their chief complaint and upper limb functional movement goals.
Perform physical examination of a patient’s skin, neurological, muscular and skeletal systems that defines their deficit(s) in upper limb biomechanical motion and function.
Formulate an effective plan of care to address key biomechanical motion control problems for patients who use an upper extremity orthosis.