1. Mechanical work performed by individual limbs of transfemoral amputees during step-to-step transitions: Effect of walking velocity
- Author
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Coralie Villa, François Lavaste, Hélène Pillet, Pascale Fodé, Xavier Bonnet, Laboratoire de biomécanique (LBM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (USPC)-Université Paris 13 (UP13), and CERAH
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,030506 rehabilitation ,medicine.medical_specialty ,mechanical power ,medicine.medical_treatment ,hip moment ,Artificial Limbs ,Walking ,Kinematics ,biomechanics ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Gait (human) ,Physical medicine and rehabilitation ,Amputees ,Walking velocity ,medicine ,Humans ,Range of Motion, Articular ,prosthetics ,Mécanique: Biomécanique [Sciences de l'ingénieur] ,Mechanical energy ,Hip ,Rehabilitation ,business.industry ,Mechanical Engineering ,Work (physics) ,Biomechanics ,[SPI.MECA.BIOM]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Mechanics [physics.med-ph]/Biomechanics [physics.med-ph] ,General Medicine ,Middle Aged ,Biomechanical Phenomena ,body regions ,Case-Control Studies ,Gait analysis ,Physical therapy ,Female ,0305 other medical science ,business ,Locomotion ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
International audience; The greater metabolic demand during the gait of people with a transfemoral amputation limits their autonomy and walking velocity. Major modifications of the kinematic and kinetic patterns of transfemoral amputee gait quantified using gait analysis may explain their greater energy cost. Donelan et al. proposed a method called the individual limb method to explore the relationships between the gait biomechanics and metabolic cost. In the present study, we applied this method to quantify mechanical work performed by the affected and intact limbs of transfemoral amputees. We compared a cohort of six active unilateral transfemoral amputees to a control group of six asymptomatic subjects.Compared to the control group, we found that there was significantly less mechanical work produced by the affected leg and significantly more work performed by the unaffected leg during the step-to-step transition. We also found that this mechanical work increased with walking velocity; the increase was less pronounced for the affected leg and substantial for the unaffected leg. Finally, we observed that the lesser work produced by the affected leg was linked to the increase in the hip flexion moment during the late stance phase, which is necessary for initiating knee flexion in the affected leg. Itis possible to quantify the mechanical work performed during gait by people with a transfemoral amputation, using the individual limb method and conventional gait laboratory equipment. The method provides information that is useful for prosthetic fitting and rehabilitation.
- Published
- 2013