Below are pointers for using some of our products for
orthotic and prosthetic applications. We hope that these will benefit both you and
your patients. If you should have any questions about the use of our products, or if
you would like additional tips and techniques added to this page, please do not hesitate
to contact us.
Andrew Ullman
President
UCO International
1. Helpful Hints-Working With
Thermoplastics
2. Tips to Help You When Working With Quick Sil
3. Using Primer to Get Uncured Quick Sil to Stick to Devices
4. Fixing Torn Silicone and Urethane
5. Sticking Cured Silicone to Devices
6. Selecting and Modifying Pre-Molded Foot Orthoses
Helpful hints- Working With Thermoplastics
Working with thermoplastics in the production of
orthotics and prosthetics can sometimes be tricky. Often, the practitioner is
working with very hot, sticky materials in a very tight time frame. Also, since
different materials have different characteristics, combining materials can sometimes
yield unexpected results. It is important to know the materials which you are
using. Before using a new material, you should determine the following:
- How long should the material be heated, and at what temperature?
- Is the material autoadhesive (i.e., will it stick to itself when it is
hot)?
- Will the material expand or shrink when heated? Will this change in
dimension affect both length and width of the piece being heated?
- What adhesive will perform the best in combining the materials being
used?
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Keep the following in mind when fabricating devices using
thermoplastics:
- Always use a turbo-convection, convection, or infra-red oven when heating
materials. A standard oven will not heat materials evenly, and damage to the
material and/or the oven may result.
- Oven temperatures vary. Test your oven temperature before heating
materials, and test samples of each material to determine exact heating time and
temperature.
- Use a Teflon coated tray or sheet to keep materials from sticking. DO NOT place directly on rack.
- Spray heat protective gloves with USDA approved silicone spray to keep
materials from sticking to you when removing from oven and placing on cast.
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Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions about working
with UCO materials.
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Tips to Help You When Working With Quick Sil
Quick Sil can be a valuable asset to you and your patients, and
is generally very easy to use. These tips will help you to further improve the ease
of use and quality of devices which you produce using Quick Sil.
Some of the many uses for this unique technology include:
Orthotic Modifications
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Distal End Pads |
Posterior Calcaneal Relief |
Ulnar Styloid Relief |
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Proper preparation is important:
- After removing the seal or plugs on the cartridge tip apply light
pressure to the trigger of the pressure gun to ensure that silicone is coming out of both
channels. If not, clear the channels with the tip of a knife. Then attach the static
mixer. Recheck for free flow before each use.
- Ensure that the Quick Sil is flowing through the static mixer evenly.
Quick Sil Shore A 2, will be a light blue if mixed properly, while Quick Sil Shore A 7-10,
will be light green.
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Extend the shelf life of your Quick Sil cartridges:
- Store the cartridges in a refrigerator until ready to use, then bring to
room temperature before using.
- After using, leave the static mixer attached to the cartridge until the
next use. This keeps the cartridge sealed and limits the possibility of cross
contamination.
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Use the self leveling feature of Quick Sil to help you :
- If filling a shallow cavity or depression with Quick Sil, do not
overfill. The viscous liquid silicone will have a high point in the middle that will level
out in a few seconds to create a flat surface.
- If filling a deep cavity for a distal end pad, experience has shown that
an entry hole under the residual limb and an exit hole at the preferred height will yield
the best results when combined with the self leveling feature of Quick
Sil.
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Please do not hesitate to contact
us if you have questions about working with Quick Sil.
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Using Primer to Allow Quick
Sil to Adhere to Devices
Silicone is a wonderful material to use for orthotic and
prosthetic applications. Unfortunately, it doesn't adhere to anything. With
proper use of our Quick Prime, you can get Quick Sil to stick to most materials.
Proper use is essential
- Ensure that surface on which this will be applied is clean and abraded to
ensure good adhesion. Place a small amount of Part A(white) on the mixing plate and place
an equal of Part B(blue) approximately 1 cm apart. Mix the two parts together with the
supplied pallet knife until they are thoroughly mixed ( approx. 20 seconds).
- Apply a small amount of combined primer at the tip of the supplied brush
and immediately paint onto the surface to be primed. Apply Quick Sil in approx. 2 to 3
minutes and allow combination to vulcanize.
- Vulcanization time varies from material to material so allow sufficient
time for this to cure before dispensing. While strength of bond is generally good after
approx. 15 minutes, complete vulcanization generally takes 4 to 16 hours, so avoid initial
high stress on the bond.
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Common pitfalls
- Poor bonding characteristics generally result from improper or inadequate
preparation of the substrate or waiting too long to apply Quick Sil after the primer has
been applied.
- Also be careful not to contaminate your Quick Prime. This can
reduce its effectiveness.
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Please do not hesitate to contact
us if you have questions about getting Quick Sil to stick to stuff.
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Attaching Cured Silicone to Devices
Silicone adhesive (available at a local
hardware store) can also be used for adhering cured silicone to another
material. Many formulations of cured silicone can be adhered to another substrate using
basic adhesion techniques For example, if you desired to more permanently
adhere a cured temporary Quick Sil relief area into a UCOkork foot orthotic base:
- Simply remove the Quick Sil piece from its cavity.
- Abrade and clean the cavity in the UCOkork base.
- Apply a thin coat of silicone adhesive to the two surfaces.
- Wait one minute and press the Quick Sil piece back into the cavity.
- If the piece is installed into the bottom of the orthosis it will be
ready to use in approx. 15 minutes.
- Best cure will be after waiting 24 hours
The above principle can be used when applying
many cured silicones to other types of devices.
Please do not hesitate to contact us
if you have questions about using silicone adhesive with Quick-Sil.
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Selecting and Modifying Pre-Molded
Foot Orthoses
The first step in this process is determining if a pre-molded orthosis is even
appropriate. A pre-molded orthosis is appropriate as a primary orthosis in the
following cases:
For acute problems:
- For young patients
- Where cost is a key factor
- When a cost effective alternative is needed
for chronic problems
In conjunction with custom orthoses:
- As trial foot orthoses to determine optimum
custom prescription
- As temporary while custom is being
fabricated
- As dress orthoses when custom is complete
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There are a number of considerations when selecting pre molded foot
orthoses.
Selection of appropriate orthoses is most important
factor
- Consider chief complaint
- Activities of Daily Living / Shoe limitations
- Consider age and weight of patient
- Duration of pain
- Location of pain
- Consider foot structure / anomaly; Remember, pre molded foot
orthoses work best on feet with little or no deformity
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Once you have selected a pre-molded orthosis, modifications may be
required to improve the results for the patient. These modifications may include
metatarsal modifications or wedges, as described below:
Metatarsal modifications
- Many models have a metatarsal or transverse arch support
molded into the orthoses.
- When the pre molded metatarsal modification
is not necessary or is not desired, it can generally be easily removed or changed by
heating the bottom of the orthoses with a heat gun at approx. 270° F. Once softened it
can then be smoothed or reshaped as necessary utilizing a heat protective glove which has
been sprayed with a silicone lubricant.
- On those models which contain no pre molded
metatarsal support, additional support may be added in the form of a sealed foam
metatarsal modification. There are a number of shapes and sizes of sealed foam metatarsal
pads and bars. Selection is based on the desired result and the selected pad may be
cemented in place and covered.
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Wedges and posting
- These may be added to resist varus or
valgus moments at either the hindfoot or forefoot.
- Quick Post strips may be used to create
appropriate posting by cementing a section of a strip onto the proper area of the
orthosis, typically on the medial side to resist valgus and on the lateral side to resist
varus.
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Please do not hesitate to contact
us if you have questions about selecting or using our pre-molded orthotics.
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Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like additional
information on these tips and techniques, or if there are topics which you would like
covered on this page.