Derby Gait And Movement Laboratory
 | The force plate in the laboratory floor provides information on the forces, moments and power generation during the gait cycle. |
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Data is also collected from muscle groups using surface electrodes. The information is fed to the computer via radio signals, thus avoiding the trailing wires of less advanced systems. |
The system therefore gathers a range of highly accurate
data from the patient:
| Kinematics is the term used to describe movement such as range, angle and angular velocity. Kinematic data describes movement with no information as to the casual mechanisms. |
| Kinetics is the measurement of the ground reaction forces (GRF) and their direction, enabling joint moments and powers to be calculated. |
| Foot Fall Measurements – this technique measures spatial parameters (stride length, step length, base of support) temporal parameters (stance and swing phase, single and double support) and a combination of spatial and temporal parameters (cadence and velocity). |
| Electromyographical data (EMG) - showing the muscle activity and therefore the firing patterns of specific muscle groups at each stage of the gait cycle. |
| Physiological cost index (PCI) - a function of heart rate and distance walked provides an estimation of the energy expenditure of walking and therefore, the efficiency of the subject's walking patterns (invaluable if comparing the beneficial outcomes of any treatment). |
PCI = Walking heart rate (WHR) – Resting heart rate (RHR)
Walking speed (WS)
| Video –Wall and overhead mounted video cameras allow coronal, sagittal and tranverse plane views of the patient to be displayed simultaneously on both wall mounted and console monitors. This is particularly useful when observing force plate strike. The video vector can also be displayed and observed on the monitors and is used for the accurate timing of heel strike and toe off. |
Assessment
Along with the motion analysis, a full clinical history and examination is carried out by a Consultant in Paediatrics and Rehabilitation. Research physiotherapist conducts a full range of movement analysis on the subject.