Individual Limb Mechanical Analysis of Gait Following Stroke

Individual Limb Mechanical Analysis of Gait Following Stroke Public Deposited

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Creator

Mahon, Caitlin
- Affiliation: School of Medicine, UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering

Abstract

Following stroke, hemiparesis can lead to gait impairment, characterized by limb mechanical asymmetry and metabolic inefficiency. Due to the importance of ambulation at home and in the community, post-stroke rehabilitation often focuses on recovery of gait, including increasing self-selected walking speeds. An in depth comparison between individual limb mechanics and their role in gait inefficiencies would allow for improvements to rehabilitation programs by guiding more specific therapies. Recently, the step-to-step transition of a stride has been studied more closely in unimpaired individuals through the pendulum model of walking, and has been shown to be a period of high mechanical and metabolic power output. The purpose of this study was to perform an individual limb analysis of post-stroke hemiparetic walking during different phases of a stride, including the step-to-step transition, in order to assess limb mechanical asymmetries and how they relate to severity of gait impairment.

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