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Inertial measurement units and normative values enable clinicians to quantify clinical walking tests and set rehabilitation goals. Objectives of this study were (1) to compare time- and distance-based walking tests in individuals with lower limb amputation (iLLA) and normative values following rehabilitation discharge (T1) and 6 weeks after discharge (T2) and (2) to investigate spatiotemporal and foot kinematic parameters over a 6-minute walk test using inertial measurement units. Twelve iLLA participated in this study. Distance, cadence, stance ratio, loading rate ratio, push-up ratio, path length, and minimum toe clearance were analyzed during 6-minute walk test. Nonparametric repeated-measures analysis of variance tests, Bonferroni corrections, were performed. Time of distance-based walking tests diminished at T2 (P < .02). Compared with normative values, walking performance in iLLA was reduced. Cadence at T2 increased significantly (P = .026). Stance ratio increased in both legs at T2 (P < .05). Push-up ratio tended to decrease at T2 in the amputated leg (P = .0003). Variability of path length and minimum toe clearance at T2 were less than at T1 in the nonamputated leg (P < .05). Spatiotemporal improvement at T2 could be due to prosthesis adaptation in iLLA. The lower performance of the functional walk test compared with normative values could be due to amputation and pain-related fatigue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes peripheral neuropathy (DPN) leads to balance impairment among diabetes mellitus (DM). The aims of this study were to (1) distinguish between DM patients who have/do not have DPN and to (2) compare quadriceps' strength and balance performance of DM, DPN, and healthy groups. Fifteen healthy females and 33 females with type 2 diabetic patients participated. The electrodiagnostic method was used to classify diabetic patients into DM and DPN. A dynamometer was used to measure quadriceps' strength. Single-leg standing on a force plate was also used to quantify participants' balance. Smaller conduction velocity and amplitude and greater distal latency of all nerves were observed in the DPN compared with the DM in particular for sensory nerve. In DPN, conduction velocity was asymmetrical. The quadriceps' strength of both legs in DPN and the right leg in DMwas smaller than in the control group. The root mean square of the center of pressure was similar between DMand DPN. But it was larger in DPN than in the control group. DPN is associated with asymmetrical conduction velocity, smaller quadriceps' strength, and weaker balance performance that is suggestive of higher risk of falling. Balance training is recommended for the DPN group during their rehabilitation to reduce their falling risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a new method to estimate 3-D linear accelerations at tibial and femoral functional coordinate systems. The method combines the use of 3-D accelerometers, 3-D gyroscopes and reflective markers rigidly fixed on an exoskeleton and, a functional postural calibration method. Marker positions were tracked by a six-camera optoelectronic system (VICON 460, Oxford Metrics). The purpose of this study was to determine if this method could discriminate between medial osteoarthritic and asymptomatic knees during gait. Nine patients with osteoarthritic knees and nine asymptomatic control subjects were included in this study. Eighteen parameters representing maximal, minimal, and range of acceleration values were extracted during the loading and preswing to mid-swing phase periods, and were compared in both groups. Results show good discriminative capacity of the new method. Eight parameters were significantly different between both groups. The proposed method has the potential to be used in comprehending and monitoring gait strategy in patients with osteoarthritic knee. Index Terms--Accelerometer and gyroscope, biomechanics, exoskeleton, gait analysis, internal and external accelerations, knee osteoarthritis (OA).

The aim of this work is to develop an automatic computer method to distinguish between asymptomatic (AS) and osteoarthritis (OA) knee gait patterns using 3-D ground reaction force (GRF) measurements. GRF features are first extracted from the force vector variations as a function of time and then classified by the nearest neighbor rule. We investigated two different features: the coefficients of a polynomial expansion and the coefficients of a wavelet decomposition. We also analyzed the impact of each GRF component (vertical, anteroposterior, and medial lateral) on classification. The best discrimination rate (91%) was achieved with the wavelet decomposition using the anteroposterior and the medial lateral components. These results demonstrate the validity of the representation and the classifier for automatic classification of AS and OA knee gait patterns. They also highlight the relevance of the anteroposterior and medial lateral force components in gait pattern classification. Index Terms--Gait pattern, nearest neighbor classifier (NNC), osteoarthritis knee (OA), polynomial expansion, 3-D ground reaction forces (GRF), wavelet decomposition.