A Tale of 2 Footies

Time for a pedograph, folks. What do we have here?

To review :

Let’s divide the foot into 3 sections: the rear foot, the mid foot and the fore foot.

First of all, are they symmetrical? Look carefully at the fore foot on each side. NO! the right foot looks different than the left, so we are looking at asymmetrical pathology.

Let’s start at the rear foot: The heel teardrop is elongated on both sides, slightly more on the right; this means incraesed calcaneal eversion (or rearfoot pronation) bilaterally, R > L. The right heel shows increased pressure (more ink = more pressure).

Next up, the mid foot. Similar shapes, more pressure and printing on the left. Did you notice the “tail” of the 5th metatarsal printing, giving it a wider print? This person is staying on the outside of their foot longer than normal, right (more ink) more than left.

How about the fore foot? Lots going on there.

Lets start on the left

Notice the mild increased printing of the 5th and 4th metatarsal heads. Force should be traveling from lateral to medial here, as the foot goes into supination. A relatively normal amount of pressure on the head of the 1st metatarsal.

Now look at the toes. Notice that space between the 2nd and 3rd? This gal had an old fracture and has an increased space between them.

Now how about the right?

Increased pressure on most of the heads with a concentration on the 1st metatarsal. Hmmm…what would cause that? this is typical of someone who has a 1st ray (cunieform and metatarsal) that is hypomobile, such as with someone with a forefoot valgus (as this person does) or a dropped 1st metatarsal head (which is usually rigid, as is NOT the case here).

Did you see that rpinting at the medial aspect of the proximal phalanyx of the hallux (ie. big toe)? This gal externally rotates the lower extremity to push off the big toe to propel herself forward. This is because the 1st metatarsal head hits the ground BEFORE the 5th (as we would normally expect to see, like in the left foot), and because the weight is now on the outside of the foot, she need to push off SOMETHING.

Getting better at this? We hope so. Keep reading the blog and look at some of our past pedograph posts here.

The Gait Guys. Teaching you about the importance of gait, each and every day!

Footprints in the sand. What do they tell us?

They say that sometimes the silences speak volumes. Take a look at these prints and see if you see the following:

• more pressure on the forefoot, right greater than left
• more pressure on the lateral aspects of the forefeet
• an increased progression angle on the right, compared to the left
• judging from the step length, this person either has really long legs or was running
• the heel seems to hit the ground slightly more on the right
• judging from the sole pattern, they are most likely wearing an Inov8 shoe

Or, we can comment on what WAS NOT seen:

• less pressure on the rearfoot, indicating a forefoot strike, or extremely tight posterior compartments
• less pressure on the medial aspects of the forefeet, indicating inefficient push off, since they are not able to get their weight to the medial tripod
• an more normal progression angle on the left, possibly indicating better mechanics there
• this person IS NOT a heel striker, but seems to have a greater range of dorsiflexion available to them on the right, most likely with more ankle rocker
• judging from the sole pattern, they are most likely wearing an Inov8 shoe

Just like in the movie “Swordfish”, John Traviolta’s character comments that “It’s all about perception”.

So, what can we surmise from our deductions?

• less pressure on the rearfoot, indicating a forefoot strike, or extremely tight posterior compartments

this individual may have a loss of ankle rocker

• less pressure on the medial aspects of the forefeet, indicating inefficient push off, since they are not able to get their weight to the medial tripod

we are probably looking for someone who has a fore foot varus deformity. This is often accompanied by increased tibial varum

• n more normal progression angle on the left, possibly indicating better mechanics there

the difference in progression angle may indicate this person has a torsional deformity and/or limited internal rotation of the hips

• this person IS NOT a heel striker, but seems to have a greater range of dorsiflexion available to them on the right, most likely with more ankle rocker

again, look for someone who has impaired ankle rocker, or limited (at least assymetrical) ankle dorsiflexion

Yes, even when we are on vacation, we are looking at gait, because it is everywhere and affects all forms of human life and behavior.

The Gait Guys. Walking in the sand. Looking for the subtle clues. Teaching you in each and every post

We always think of ourselves as the CSI or NCIS geeks of gait. We were aware of forensic analysis of footprints and this article is just the icing on the cake!

article source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jhIh9jpQmYAgl6Rv0uBjNQgT1ItQ?docId=CNG.4ecd62b490d0f49529b2cfb2c331d332.481

Security first: When a footstep is like a fingerprint

(AFP) – 1 day ago   

PARIS — How a bare foot strikes the ground as one walks reveals your identity almost as well as a fingerprint, according to a study released Wednesday.

The discovery means that one day retinal scans, voice recognition and old-fashioned mugshots may be joined by foot-pressure patterns as a means of confirming ID, it suggests.

Previous research has shown that everyone has a unique stride. Computers can determine “gait patterns” – the way a person walks, saunters, swaggers or sashays – with up to 90-percent accuracy.

Scientists led by Todd Pataky at Shinshu University in Tokida, Japan, looked at enhancing this finding by measuring how the foot hits and leaves the ground during walking.

They used 3-D image processing and a technique called image extraction to analyse the heel strike, roll-to-forefoot and push-off by the toes among 104 volunteers.

Footstep patterns were matched to the individual with 99.6 percent accuracy, according to their paper, published on Wednesday in Britain’s Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

The study is “proof of concept,” meaning that it was carried out in experimental conditions among volunteers who were barefoot to see whether the theory was sound.

In an email exchange with AFP, said the technology would be useful in security checks.

But it would only work in situations where an individual wants to be recognised, “since anyone can modify their gait,” he explained.

“Automated airport security checks, ATM security, controlled building access – in all these cases, an individual could walk normally to be positively identified.”

Further work is needed to see whether feet that are shod throw up similar telltale patterns.

“We have some pilot data for walking with shoes, but have not yet conducted systematic testing,” Pataky said.

Too cool, eh?

Ivo and Shawn