Gait Analysis in Prosthetics

REVIEW Objective measurement systems which quan­ tify locomotion have been in use for the past century. But not until World War II, when thousands of men returned home to the United States with amputations, was technology really applied to the understanding of prosthetic gait. Inman and colleagues 1 founded the Biome­ chanics Laboratory at the University of Cali­ fornia to establish fundamental principles of human walking, particularly in relation to prob­ lems faced by lower limb amputees. Inman's measurement techniques included motion pic­ tures of coronal and sagittal views, as well as transverse rotations from below using a glass walkway. Using interrupted light photography, the Biomechanics Laboratory team studied the motion of body segments during gait. Force plates measured the subject's ground reaction forces, and muscle activity was recorded using electromyography (EMG), which measures the electrical signals associated with contraction of a muscle. Prior to Inman's fundamental studies,