Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026
Evaluation of Patients' Posture and Gait Profile After Lumbar Fusion Surgery by Video Rasterstereography and Treadmill Gait Analysis
Published on: March 23, 2019
Gait evaluation of an automatic stance-control knee orthosis in a patient with postpoliomyelitis
Jackie S Hebert1, Adrian B Liggins
1University of Alberta, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Edmonton, AB, Canada. jherbert@cha.ab.ca
Objective:
To determine gait differences in a subject ambulating with a knee-ankle-foot orthosis (KAFO) with a locked knee joint versus an automatic stance-control knee joint.
Design:
Single-subject crossover design.
Setting:
Tertiary rehabilitation facility with a motion analysis laboratory.
Participant:
A 61-year-old ambulatory male volunteer with postpoliomyelitis walking with a stance-control KAFO.
Interventions:
Instrumented gait analysis and Physiological Cost Index in the locked knee and stance-control modes.
Main Outcome Measure:
Differences in gait parameters.
Results:
On the braced limb, stance-control mode showed a near-normal knee flexion wave in swing, reduced pelvic retraction and rotational excursion, and improved hip power generation. On the nonbraced limb, the stance-control mode allowed elimination of vaulting, reduction in abnormal ankle and hip power generation, increased knee power absorption, and more typical quadriceps activation. There was a trend toward improved energy efficiency in the stance-control mode.
Conclusions:
Use of a stance-control knee joint in a KAFO appears to improve gait biomechanics and improve energy efficiency compared with a locked knee.
