Identification of good candidates for valgus bracing as a treatment for medial knee osteoarthritis.

Unlabelled: Valgus unloader braces are a conservative treatment option for medial compartment knee osteoarthritis that aim to unload the damaged medial compartment through application of an external abduction moment. Patient response to bracing is highly variable, however. While some experience improvements in pain, function, and joint loading, others receive little to no benefit.

Ipsilateral and contralateral foot pronation affect lower limb and trunk biomechanics of individuals with knee osteoarthritis during gait.

Background: Lateral wedges have been suggested for the treatment of individuals with knee osteoarthritis, but it may have undesirable effects on the biomechanics of gait through increased foot pronation. This study investigated the effects of increased unilateral foot pronation on the biomechanics of individuals with knee osteoarthritis during gait.

Methods: Biomechanical data of twenty individuals with knee osteoarthritis were collected while they walked in three conditions: i) flat sandals; ii) wedged sandal on the knee osteoarthritis limb and flat sandal on the healthy limb; and iii) flat sandal on the osteoarthritis and wedged sandal on the healthy limb.

Increased unilateral foot pronation affects lower limbs and pelvic biomechanics during walking.

Background: Increased unilateral foot pronation may cause biomechanical changes on the lower limbs during gait. We investigated the effects of increased unilateral foot pronation on the biomechanics of lower limbs and pelvis during gait.

Methods: Kinematic and kinetic data of 22 participants were collected while they walked wearing flat and laterally wedged sandals.

Direct comparison of kinematic data collected using an electromagnetic tracking system versus a digital optical system.

The purpose of this study was to quantify the dynamic accuracy of kinematics measured by a digital optical motion analysis system in a gait analysis laboratory (capture volume approximately 20m(3)) compared to a standard range direct-current electromagnetic (EM) tracking device (capture volume approximately 1m(3)). This is a subset of a larger effort to establish an appropriate marker set for the optical system to quantify upperlimb kinematics simultaneously with gait, in comparison to previous studies of isolated upperlimb movements that have employed EM tracking devices. Rigid clusters of spherical reflective markers and EM sensors were attached to a mechanical articulator that mimicked three-dimensional joint rotations, similar to the elbow.