Approach for gait analysis in persons with limb loss including residuum and prosthesis socket dynamics.

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Rehabilitation Engineering
• Prosthetics

Background:

• Marker-based motion capture and musculoskeletal modeling are standard for gait analysis.
• These methods often overlook the residuum-socket interface in lower limb amputees.
• Understanding this interface is vital due to significant motion and loading.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for estimating motion and loading at the residuum-socket interface during gait analysis.
• To integrate this estimation into standard gait analysis procedures for amputees.
• To improve the biomechanical understanding of walking with a prosthesis.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a global optimization technique combined with anatomical constraints.
• Systematically evaluated parameters of the residuum-socket interface, including degrees of freedom.
• Determined an optimal configuration balancing experimental data accuracy and anatomical realism.

Main Results:

• Successfully estimated motion and loading at the residuum-socket interface.
• Identified a configuration that accurately tracks experimental data while providing realistic biomechanical outputs.
• Validated the model's agreement with existing literature data.

Conclusions:

• The developed model provides a novel way to analyze the critical residuum-socket interaction in lower limb amputees.
• This advancement deepens the understanding of gait biomechanics in individuals using prostheses.
• Facilitates the development of improved rehabilitation strategies and prosthetic devices.