Functional evaluation by gait analysis of various ankle-foot assemblies used by below-knee amputees

Twelve different prosthetic feet were tested by 10 male subjects with right below-knee amputations. Level walking with each prosthetic foot was investigated using a pair of force plates. Five parameters were selected to compare the functional characteristics of the feet: 1) step length, 2) walking velocity on the sound side in relation to the prosthetic side, 3) depth of valley in the pattern of the vertical component of the floor reaction force, 4) efficiency of the deceleration and acceleration by the prosthetic foot, and 5) irregular patterns in the wave form of the fore and aft components of the floor reaction force. Each of the above parameters was rated numerically. The total score of the objective evaluation attained by analysing the five parameters showed some coincidence to the results of subjective evaluation. However, a good correlation existed between the objective negative score and the subjective negative rating (p < 0.05). Non-axial feet developed recently, such as the SAFE II and Seattle Light feet achieved higher scores in the older age group, while single-axis feet, such as the LAPOC and Otto Bock feet achieved higher scores in the younger age group (p < 0.05).