Author: Dr Karla Muñoz Esquivel
Research Associate in Wearable Technologies for SENDoc project
This event took place on 27th March 2019, funded by Connected NI Programme, was organised by Ulster University and NorthWest Regional College (NWRC). To this event attended about 25 people. The main objective of this event was to communicate about the related Health Technology projects that are currently taking place at the Northwest of Northern Ireland.
Author: Elina Nevala (Project specialist in SENDoc, physiotherapist)
Edited and Reviewed by Karla Muñoz Esquivel
As described in previous blog text, which concerned gait phases, let’s revise a bit! So, in the gait the important movements occur in all three plains – sagittal, frontal and transverse, but the largest movements occur in a sagittal plane. The gait contains seven events, which divide the gait cycle into seven periods: Four of these occur in the stance phase when the foot is on the ground and three in the swing phase when the foot is moving forward. Stance phases: Loading response, mid-stance, terminal stance and pre-swing. Phases of swing: initial swing, mid-swing and terminal swing (See picture 1).
Stride width (also known as the walking base or base of support) is the distance between the two feet, normal values for this are 5-15 centimetres when measured from the midpoint of the back of the heel. The preferred unit for stride width is millimetres. The toe out angle is the degrees between a direction of progression and a reference line on the sole of the foot (Picture 2). Normal values for this angle is 5-10º out, but toe in can also occur but it’s less common.
The most common parameter to be analysed is walking speed (stride length divided by cycle time). The velocity or speed of gait is measured in meters/second or kilometres/minute. The numbers of steps taken in a given time are called cadence, usually, its units are steps/minute. The walking speed depends on cadence and stride lengths, so speed can be changed by modifying these variables, for example increasing the cadence while keeping the stride length the same. The duration of the gait cycle is known as the cycle time, which is divided by stance time and swing time.
Joint motion during normal gait. The task of the hip is to extend the leg during stance phase and flex the leg during swing phase. The hip flexors (primarily iliopsoas muscles) slows down the extension and hip extensors (primarily the hamstrings) slows down the flexion. So, both of these muscle groups work eccentrically. An important event for the hip is also that the abductor muscles work as a stabiliser during single-leg support. Key functions for knee are to bear weight, absorb shock (first three stance phases, knee on flexion), extend the stride length and allow the foot to move through the swing. The major role in gait is played by the foot and the ankle, because the various joints allow the foot accommodating to the ground. The joints of foot and ankle must work together to make normal gait possible. Gastrocnemius and soleus are also important muscles in gait. In normal walking, they use 85% of their maximum voluntary contraction.
References:
Kauranen, K. (2017) Fysioterapeutin käsikirja. Physiotherapy Handbook. 1st edition. pp.329-336.
Magee, D. J. (2002) Orthopaedic Physical Assessment. 4th edition. pp. 847-872.
Levine, D., Richards, J. & Whittle, M.W. (2012) Whittle’s Gait Analysis. 5th edition.
Authors: Elina Nevala (Project specialist in SENDoc, Physiotherapist) & Joonas Pirinen (Physiotherapy student)
Reviewed and edited by Karla Muñoz Esquivel
We introduced and demonstrated G-walk wearable system to physiotherapists and assistive physiotherapists at Siun sote. These healthcare specialists are working in the local rehabilitation hospital, which organises centralised rehabilitation services for specific patient groups, such as neurological and surgical patients, who need postoperative care and rehabilitation, for example, after knee and hip replacements and amputation. For more information about G-walk, please visit: http://www.btsbioengineering.com/products/g-walk/ .
First, we held a short presentation about SENDoc project and the G-walk sensor device. The latter is a wearable sensor system that can be used to perform gait analysis. In addition, it can also be employed to analyse specific actions such as turning, running and jumping. Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) and 6 minutes walking tests can also be performed and analysed with this system. Both tests are commonly used in rehabilitation processes of elderly people. On our presentation, we focused firstly on introducing which sensor technologies are used on this device and what parameters it measures. For example, G-walk measures during the gait analysis: Velocity, cadence, swing phase (%), stance phase (%), pelvic movement and many other parameters. Secondly, we focused on demonstrating how to use it and how to read and interpret the measurements provided by the Software. Physiotherapists had opportunity to test it on each other’s (See Picture 1) and attain real life experience interpreting the measurements (See Picture 2.) We also presented and demonstrated G-walk wearable system to home rehabilitation physiotherapist (See Picture 3).
This kind of sensor systems are unfamiliar for most of the rehabilitation staff that we have came across, but the most important thing is that their reflections and thoughts are positively related to the use of sensors for rehabilitation purposes. Physiotherapists are also interested in attaining objective information about clients and patients’ functional capacity. They also asked interesting questions regarding the use of sensors, such as “Where does these normal values come from?”.In SENDoc project we are going to test different kind of sensors that can be used during the elderly person´s rehabilitation processes on real environments. Here in Finland those places are the rehabilitation hospital at Siun sote and the patient’s or customer’s home.
SENDOC project Blog 