Elsevier

Gait & Posture

Volume 65, Supplement 1, September 2018, Pages 11-12
Gait & Posture

Short communication
O 006 - Computation of hip rotation kinematics retrospectively using functional knee calibration during gait

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2018.06.014Get rights and content

Abstract

Hip rotation kinematics during gait is a key parameter to support clinical decision making but is also one of the least repeatable because it is difficult to locate the position of the medio-lateral axis of the femur. I described a workflow to perform functional calibration using knee kinematics only, and adjust hip rotation and knee kinematics retrospectively. Results indicate that functional calibration was more repeatable in typically developing children with normal knee movement during walking.

Introduction

Hip rotation kinematics during gait is a key parameter to support clinical decision making but is also one of the least repeatable because it is difficult to locate the position of the medio-lateral axis of the femur. Knee functional calibration provides an alternative to locate the medio-lateral axis of the femur and may be performed retrospectively, using the movement of the knee joint during gait. Functional calibration may lead to increased repeatability between sessions, which would be useful to compare gait analysis data from sessions pre- and post-treatment, or to reprocess data in large gait databases.

Section snippets

Research question

Does knee functional calibration lead to improved repeatability between sessions?

Methods

We present a workflow to perform knee functional calibration using knee kinematics, and update hip rotation kinematics accordingly. The workflow was applied to investigate the inter-subject, inter-session and inter-trial variance components of multiple calibration methods in a group a 10 typically developing children who were assessed 3 times on the same day, by the same assessor; a registered physiotherapist with more than 10 years’ experience in gait analysis. The subjects were equipped with

Results

One or two DoF functional methods were more repeatable inter-session (SD: 1.8°) than conventional calibration using the knee alignment device (SD: 4.7°), but not the Baudet et al. method (SD:5.0°). Simulated reduced range of movement at the knee during gait increased inter-session variance for the functional calibration algorithms (SD: 5.1°). Repeatability of functional calibration was not improved compare to conventional calibration for the simulated crouch gait (Table 1).

Discussion

The workflow presented allows the re-processing of gait analysis data using knee kinematics during gait only. We found that functional calibration was more repeatable between sessions for full knee range of movement. However, repeatability of functional calibration was not improved when only the frames with knee flexion greater than 30° were used.

The workflow is detailed for the knee joint but may be adapted to investigate functional axes of other joints, for example the ankle.

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