Trans-tibial amputee gait adaptations as a result of prosthetic inertial manipulation

To establish through gait analysis how changing the mass at the distal end of an in-house, custom-made trans-tibial dynamic elastic response prosthetic limb altered selected gait variables. Including; walking velocity, cadence, single support and hip power for a single amputee.

A before-after single-subject research design was used with two interventions. A 3-dimensional gait analysis was conducted to analyse the effect on selected gait variables. The mass and moment of inertia of the prosthesis were altered by inserting wedges of different materials.

Altering the mass had little effect on the cadence, single support or the velocity. Both the affected and intact limb hip pull-off power at terminal stance was increased, although the effect was greater for the affected limb than for the intact limb. The affected limb hip power at initial contact did not alter in a manner directly related to the mass.

Altering the mass had an inconsistent effect on the gait parameters tested. The subject volunteered that he preferred the prosthesis of the middle mass.