How to improve walking, balance and social participation following stroke: a comparison of the long term effects of two walking aids--canes and an orthosis TheraTogs--on the recovery of gait following acute stroke. A study protocol for a multi-centre, single blind, randomised control trial.

Background: Annually, some 9000 people in Switzerland suffer a first time stroke. Of these 60% are left with moderate to severe walking disability. Evidence shows that rehabilitation techniques which emphasise activity of the hemiplegic side increase ipsilesional cortical plasticity and improve functional outcomes.

Gait analysis in ankle osteoarthritis and total ankle replacement.

Background: Little information is available about gait changes in ankle osteoarthritis and total ankle replacement, and also about total ankle replacement patients' rehabilitation in the first year after surgery.

Methods: Thirty subjects were included in this study: 15 unilateral post-traumatic ankle osteoarthritis patients and 15 age-/gender-matched control subjects. Patients were followed prospectively: preoperatively, at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after total ankle replacement.

Muscular lower leg asymmetry in middle-aged people.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether muscular asymmetries were present in the lower legs of recreationally active middle-aged people grouped by leg dominance.

Methods: Twelve healthy middle-aged subjects were analyzed bilaterally. The clinical variables included leg dominance, sports level, range of motion, lower leg alignment, calf circumference, and AOFAS (American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society) ankle score.

Lower leg muscle atrophy in ankle osteoarthritis.

The aim of this study was to determine changes in the lower leg muscles associated with ankle osteoarthritis. Fifteen unilateral ankle osteoarthritis patients and fifteen age-gender-matched normal subjects were assessed with clinical [osteoarthritis latency time, pain, alignment, AOFAS ankle score, ankle range of motion (ROM), calf circumference], radiological (ankle osteoarthritis grading), and muscular-physiological parameters [isometric maximal voluntary ankle torque, surface electromyography of the anterior tibial (AT), medial gastrocnemius (MG), soleus (SO), and peroneus longus (PL) muscle]. The osteoarthritis patients had increased pain (6.

[Secondary stability of cemented and non-cemented acetabular implants ex-vivo under dynamic load].

Objective: To measure the bone-prosthetic implant interface micromovement during the application of physiological load by using a material testing system (MTS).

Methods: The cadaveric hip specimens were used to simulate a single leg stance and the joint in the neutral position. Micromovement was recorded via a 3-dimensional transducer in the acetabula of postmortem specimens, which had been preserved in formalin.

Changes in EMG signals for the muscle tibialis anterior while running barefoot or with shoes resolved by non-linearly scaled wavelets.

The purpose of this project was to study the EMG pattern of the tibialis anterior muscle in heel-toe running. Specifically, EMG changes in time, intensity and frequency shortly before and after heel-strike were addressed using an EMG-specific non-linearly scaled wavelets analysis. This method allowed extracting the time, intensity and frequency information inherent in the EMG signal at any time.