Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies
Date Submitted: Oct 1, 2024
Date Accepted: Apr 30, 2025
Biomechanical Variables and Pelvic Kinematics in Lower Limb Amputees: Analysis of Gait Data
ABSTRACT
Background:
The quantification of gait parameters in amputees facilitates the assessment of their performance with prosthetic devices. These parameters often depend on measurements based on anatomical aspects that vary across different types of lower limb amputations.
Objective:
Thus, this study aimed to investigate body weight distribution, and gait symmetry, quality, and propulsion, as well as pelvic kinematics in the amputee population.
Methods:
The EcoWalk baropodometry platform was used to measure plantar pressure, and G-Walk inertial sensor was employed for accelerometry measurement in twenty-nine unilateral lower limb amputees.
Results:
Values were estimated for each variable under analysis, and the results were broken down by the level of amputation. All variables exhibited normal distribution within each group under analysis P >.05), except for the symmetry index in AK amputees (P=.029). Regarding the BWD (P =.109), velocity (P =1.000), propulsion (P =.378), and quality index (P=.096) of the amputated limb, no significant differences were observed between the AK and BK amputees. The most significant deviation was in pelvic obliquity, being greater for AK amputees than for BK amputees.
Conclusions:
The values reported in this study for the variables under analysis enable the establishment of more precise reference levels for the amputee population, thereby contributing to a more accurate diagnostic process and aiding in prosthetic fitting.
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.