A force measuring treadmill in clinical gait analysis

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Medical Engineering
• Clinical Gait Analysis

Background:

• Gait analysis is crucial for diagnosing and managing various medical conditions.
• Existing methods for measuring ground reaction forces (GRFs) can be cumbersome in clinical settings.
• There is a need for efficient and accurate tools for gait analysis in clinical research and practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and test an instrumented treadmill, a force measuring treadmill (FMT), for measuring GRFs.
• To assess the feasibility of using the FMT in clinical gait analysis.
• To evaluate the FMT's ability to differentiate between normal and pathological gaits.

Main Methods:

• A commercial treadmill was modified with 3D strain-gauge force transducers.
• Technical performance tests (linearity, CoP, crosstalk, etc.) were conducted.
• GRFs and segmental kinematics were recorded from healthy subjects and patients during treadmill walking.

Main Results:

• Technical tests showed satisfactory performance with <10% error.
• Dynamic tests in healthy subjects aligned with existing literature.
• Patient data revealed distinct differences, indicating the FMT's capability to discriminate pathological gaits.

Conclusions:

• GRF measurements from the FMT appear valid for clinical gait analysis.
• The FMT is feasible for assessing net joint moments and body center of mass (CMb) kinematics/mechanics.
• The FMT offers potential for efficient GRF collection in research and routine analysis, though further validation is needed.