Smartphone-Based Gait Assessment Captures Functional Recovery Following Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Area of Science:

• Biomechanical Engineering
• Digital Health
• Orthopedic Surgery

Background:

• Traditional clinical gait assessments often require specialized equipment and expertise.
• Smartphone-based applications offer a potential for accessible, remote patient monitoring.
• Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients can experience significant gait impairments requiring objective assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the reliability of the OneStep smartphone application against a gold-standard motion capture system for gait analysis.
• To assess the functional recovery of TKA patients using the OneStep app through pre- and post-operative gait measurements.

Main Methods:

• The OneStep app, utilizing smartphone sensors and machine learning, measured gait parameters (e.g., gait velocity, cadence).
• Validation involved comparing OneStep measurements with motion capture data in 17 healthy adults.
• Functional recovery was tracked in 11 TKA patients at pre-operative, 2-week, and 6-week post-operative time points.

Main Results:

• Strong correlations were found between OneStep and motion capture for cadence and gait velocity (p < 0.0001).
• TKA patients showed significant gait declines at 2 weeks post-surgery (e.g., decreased gait velocity, p = 0.011).
• Gait parameters improved significantly by 6 weeks post-surgery, surpassing pre-operative levels.

Conclusions:

• The OneStep app demonstrates reliability for gait analysis, comparable to motion capture systems for key parameters.
• Smartphone-based gait assessment is a viable tool for monitoring TKA patient functional recovery.
• The OneStep app provides objective, accessible data to track rehabilitation progress in TKA patients.