Concurrent validity and reliability of a low-cost gait analysis system for assessment of spatiotemporal gait parameters.

Objective: To determine the concurrent validity and reliability of a low-cost spatiotemporal gait analysis system for clinical use in rehabilitation medicine.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Subjects: Thirty-three healthy adults.

Influence of hamstring lengthening on muscle activation timing.

The purpose of this study was to describe the changes in muscle activation patterns using surface electromyography (sEMG) during walking in patients with cerebral palsy (CP), before and after hamstring lengthening. In the current clinical use of sEMG during walking in CP for pre-operative planning, various authors have observed that timing of muscle activation patterns hardly changes after surgical intervention. This observation is based on tendon transfer studies and visual interpretation of raw EMG signals.

A feasibility study of remote consultation to determine suitability for surgery in stroke rehabilitation.

We studied knowledge transfer for the determination of the suitability of stroke patients for a specialist surgical procedure (split anterior tibial tendon transfer). Gait analysis data from patients at a general hospital were discussed with an expert in another country using personal computers, an ISDN connection (128 kbit/s) and TCP/IP-based communication tools. The key issue was whether the staff in the general hospital became better able to determine suitability for surgery.

Development of a teleconsultation system for communication between physiotherapists concerning children with complex movement and postural disorders.

We investigated whether a relatively low-cost, PC-based teleconsultation system could be used for interinstitutional communication about children with complex movement and postural disorders. Four paediatric physiotherapists in three different institutions participated. Both email and videoconferencing were tested.

Electromyography in the biomechanical analysis of human movement and its clinical application.

This article introduces the area of scientific study of human movement. It is primarily intended for readers who wish to form a judgement on the usefulness of scientific movement analysis techniques in the treatment process of patients with abnormal movement patterns. With a focus on the analysis of human locomotion, the paper outlines the historical development of a biomechanical approach towards the understanding of human movement patterns.