Walking boot design: a gait analysis study

This study investigated the effect of various short-leg walking boot designs on walking. Four commercially available walking boots and a synthetic walking cast were tested using three-dimensional gait analysis to determine their effect on a normal individual's gait pattern. Temporal-spatial parameters and lower limb kinematics and kinetics were analyzed for 10 normal subjects. The synthetic walking cast was the most different when compared with the shoe condition with respect to the all parameters tested. The Bledsoe walking boot was the only boot that was not significantly different from the shoe condition for all parameters tested.