Immediate effects of unilateral restricted ankle motion on gait kinematics in healthy subjects.

Correcting a pathological toe walking gait pattern can be achieved by restricting excessive plantarflexion during the swing phase of gait. A common conservative treatment measure is providing the patient with an ankle-foot-orthosis on the affected lower leg. This study examined the lower body gait kinematics and temporal-spatial parameters of fifteen healthy adults when walking freely and with unilateral restricted ankle motion.

Upper body movements in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy walking with and without an ankle-foot orthosis.

Background: It has previously been discussed that treatment of the hemiplegic arm in patients with cerebral palsy can improve gait parameters in the lower body. Our question was whether improving the ankle rocker with an orthosis has an effect on the upper body during walking. The main aim was to investigate, which trunk and arm kinematics of toe walking children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy are changed by wearing a hinged ankle-foot orthosis, restoring an initial heel contact.

The influence of muscle strength on the gait profile score (GPS) across different patients.

Background: Muscle strength greatly influences gait kinematics. The question was whether this association is similar in different diseases.

Methods: Data from instrumented gait analysis of 716 patients were retrospectively assessed.

The association between premature plantarflexor muscle activity, muscle strength, and equinus gait in patients with various pathologies.

This study provides an overview on the association between premature plantarflexor muscle activity (PPF), muscle strength, and equinus gait in patients with various pathologies. The purpose was to evaluate whether muscular weakness and biomechanical alterations are aetiological factors for PPF during walking, independent of the underlying pathology. In a retrospective design, 716 patients from our clinical database with 46 different pathologies (orthopaedic and neurologic) were evaluated.

Secondary gait deviations in patients with and without neurological involvement: a systematic review.

Pathologies that lead to biomechanical restrictions in human gait interfere with the tightly regulated muscle activation patterns that control the external moments. In order to maintain proper function, secondary mechanisms are required. The aims of this systematic review were (1) to identify secondary mechanisms in pathologic gait that have been described throughout the scientific literature by means of instrumented gait analysis, (2) to distinguish between active compensatory mechanisms and passive physical effects and (3) to identify common compensatory mechanisms that appear to be independent from the underlying disease.

Automatic selection of a representative trial from multiple measurements using Principle Component Analysis.

Experimental data in human movement science commonly consist of repeated measurements under comparable conditions. One can face the question how to identify a single trial, a set of trials, or erroneous trials from the entire data set. This study presents and evaluates a Selection Method for a Representative Trial (SMaRT) based on the Principal Component Analysis.

Evidence of residual force enhancement for multi-joint leg extension.

Force enhancement is a well accepted property of skeletal muscle and has been observed at all structural levels ranging from single myofibrils to voluntarily activated m. quadriceps femoris in vivo. However, force enhancement has not been studied for multi-joint movements like human leg extension; therefore knowledge about its relevance in daily living remains limited.