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Updated: Nov 7, 2025
Oscillation and Reaction Board Techniques for Estimating Inertial Properties of a Below-knee Prosthesis
Published on: May 8, 2014
Bodyweight distribution between limbs, muscle strength, and proprioception in traumatic transtibial amputees: a
Carlos Henrique da Silva Fontes Filho1, Conrado Torres Laett2,3,4, Ubiratã Faleiro Gavilão2,3,4
1Centro de Amputados, Unidade de Reabilitacao, Instituto Nacional de Traumatologia e Ortopedia (INTO), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BR.
Objectives:
To evaluate how transtibial amputation (TT) affects bodyweight distribution, voluntary knee joint position sense (JPS), and quadriceps (QUA) and hamstrings (HAM) strength in prosthetized patients.
Methods:
Only TT patients who had been prosthetized for more than one year were included, and an age-paired able-bodied group was used as control. The participants stood on force plates with their eyes open to measure bodyweight distribution between the limbs. Knee voluntary JPS was assessed by actively reproducing a set of given arbitrary joint angles using a video analysis approach, and QUA and HAM strength were assessed isometrically with a hand-held dynamometer.
Results:
Sixteen TT subjects (age: 39.4±4.8 years) and sixteen age-paired control subjects (age: 38.4±4.3 years) participated in the study. The amputees supported their bodyweight majorly on the sound limb (54.8±8.3%, p<0.001). The proprioceptive performance was similar between the amputated (absolute error (AE): 2.2±1.6°, variable error (VE): 1.9±1.6°, constant error (CE): -0.7±2.0°) and non-amputated limbs (AE: 2.6±0.9°, VE: 2.1±0.9°, CE: 0.02±2.3°), and was not different from that of control subjects (AE: 2.0±0.9°, VE: 1.4±0.4°, CE: -1.1±1.7°). There was a considerable weakness of the QUA and HAM in the amputated limb compared with the sound limb and control subjects (p<0.001 both).
Conclusions:
The asymmetric bodyweight distribution in the transtibial amputees was not accompanied by a reduction in knee proprioception. There was significant weakness in the amputated limb, which could be a potential issue when designing rehabilitation programs.
