Various prescribing professionals dealing with locomotor disability long-felt the need for a text that presents the information with regards to the function, mechanics and clinical uses of orthotic and prosthetic devices in clear and concise manner. I am happy to observe that the book meets this requirement and provides all the relevant information in one place.

Though the main audience of the book are the practitioners and students of physiotherapy, I am sure that it will also be appreciated by the practitioners of orthopedics, sports medicine, physiatry, occupational therapy and other professional groups dealing with locomotor disability.

There exists a dearth of books that present a comprehensive yet concise description of the orthoses and prostheses. Most books on the topic are written for the professionals who manufacture these devices. These books often contain details of the manufacturing process that increases the volume and cost of book. At times, it becomes a difficult task for a teacher to retrieve the relevant information pertaining to the prescription and uses of the devices. Most schools of physiotherapy started in the last decade do not have attachment with any orthotic center and in places where enough books are not available teaching of this subject becomes very problematic. As a result, over the years, deterioration has been observed in the teaching of this subject in the physiotherapy schools across the country.

A prescribing professional such as physiotherapist, orthopedician, or PMR specialist requires the information with regards to the function, mechanics and clinical uses of these devices along with the knowledge for distinguishing a good device from a bad one. There exists a need of a book that makes the subject meaningful from academic point of view keeping the requirement of audience in mind. The book intends to fulfill these requirements and attempts to provide all the relevant information in one place.

A device-centric approach is adopted in the book that helps a reader to select a device for the clinical uses. However, it is not a cookbook as it also provides sufficient theoretical framework and attempts to establish the orthosis as a therapeutic modality. The authors have been teaching the subject for past several years to the graduate and postgraduate physiotherapy students and the book is the result of that interaction between teacher and learner. The material presented in the book is class-tested as far as the language, flow and the arrangement of the content is concerned. Attempts are made to present the material in lucid and comprehensible style without compromising the informative aspect. The subject matter is presented in three sections each dealing with orthoses, prostheses and assistive devices.

The book intends to encourage the physiotherapists—both students and practioners—to identify the needs of patients and generate an effective prescription. In order to facilitate the understanding, the book contains a good number of figures and photographs of most of the devices described. The detail of manufacturing process is intentionally omitted. The main thrust of the book is to present the information in such a way that would be utilized in the clinics.

Although primarily written for the physiotherapists as a course book for bachelor and postgraduate classes, I earnestly hope that it would also serve as a useful reference to the member and students of other disciplines like orthopedics, sports medicine, physiatry, occupational therapy and other professional groups dealing with locomotor disability. Every attempt has been made to avoid errors though some might have crept in inadvertently. I shall be obliged if such error is brought to my notice. I solicit suggestion and criticism for further improvement.

10I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all those who have helped me in the preparation of the book. The book would not have seen the light of the day without the cooperation and inputs of my friends Subrat Kumar Tripathy and Raju Sharma. In recognition to their involvement in this project, it would have been only appropriate to credit them with the tile of contributing authors. My thanks are also due to my guru Mr AG Dhandapani for reviewing the manuscript and offering valuable suggestions.

I would be failing in my duties if I do not acknowledge my gratitude to all those authors whose works have been consulted and quoted in the book. Mr Pritpal Singh Siddhu, In-charge, District Disability Rehabilitation Center (DDRC), Patiala, Punjab, India, and a finest Prosthetic Orthotic Engineering (POE) professional himself—had been kind enough to show me an assortment of prosthesis and orthotic devices from his personal collections so that those could be photographed and put in the text. Thanks are also due to my colleague Dr Sandeep Singh (PT), Lecturer, Department of Physiotherapy, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India, for drawing some diagrams and helping me in many ways during the writing of this text.

I express my sincere thanks to the publisher M/s Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd, New Delhi, India, for making efforts in bringing out the text. I commend their efforts in making standard text available to the physiotherapy community.