Stepping with an ankle foot orthosis re-examined: a mechanical perspective for clinical decision making.

Background: Ankle foot orthoses are used to stabilize the ankle joint and aid toe clearance during stepping in persons after incomplete spinal cord injury. However, little is known about kinematics and kinetics of stepping with an orthosis during the transition from stance-to-swing and swing-to-stance. We intended to examine if an ankle foot orthosis impeded or facilitated optimal ankle, knee and hip joint kinematics, kinetics and spatiotemporal parameters during the transition phases of normal walking.

Design of patient-specific gait modifications for knee osteoarthritis rehabilitation.

Abstract-Gait modification is a nonsurgical approach for reducing the external knee adduction torque in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The magnitude of the first adduction torque peak in particular is strongly associated with knee OA progression. While toeing out has been shown to reduce the second peak, no clinically realistic gait modifications have been identified that effectively reduce both peaks simultaneously.