Don't let them fool you. Thoughts on gait analysis programs, force plates etc.

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Accuracy of gait analysis programs and software.
This is not meant, by any means, to be an exhaustive or comprehensive review of gait analysis programs or software. To be truthful, we here at TGG have abandoned all of the software programs well over a decade ago, programs that we initially used to help us slow the gait down, measure joint angles and other seemingly valuable parameters. As time ticked on, we realized that we had trained our eyes to see most of what the software was telling us, and we also began to value the third visual dimension that these types of programs were thin on. Then came ipads and iphones and the ability with a mere finger to slow down someones gait, reverse it and play forward again. This was all we needed, and this next statement is key, for what we do for our clients.

We were pleased to see the repeatability and consistency in the data and results as outlined in these 2 selected studies. If someones gait problem is repeating, and the software is consistent, the data should be repeatable. But, here it comes, what you see in someones gait is not their problem, it is their habitual pattern of possible dysfunction. There, we said it again, for the 1000th time. Software has limited value in fixing someones problems, it merely presents data points to quantify the gait they present with. And if the client has pain, the software consistently shows the gait pattern that presents with their problem. Changing their gait does not mean you have remedied their problem, you may have, but you are more likely to have asked them to generate a new compensation around a problematic gait. A compensation around a compensation if you will.

Force plates, pedographs, and the like also fall into this data capture category. These are all tools, tools for gathering information that must be folded into hands-on clinical examination information. One needs all of the pieces if they are to play this game right, using just some of them and negating others is abusing the value of each piece data. And, the result of implementing corrective change without all the pieces is gambling that you have enough data to do it right. So, when did this become a game of gambling ?

Gait Posture. 2016 Jul;48:194-201. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2016.05.014. Epub 2016 May 25. Accuracy and repeatability of two methods of gait analysis - GaitRite™ und Mobility Lab™ - in subjects with cerebellar ataxia.
Schmitz-Hübsch T1, Brandt AU2, Pfueller C3, Zange L3, Seidel A3, Kühn AA4, Paul F4, Minnerop M5, Doss S3.

Biomed Res Int. 2014; 2014: 348659.
Published online 2014 Feb 20. doi: 10.1155/2014/348659
PMCID: PMC3950554. Accuracy and Repeatability of the Gait Analysis by the WalkinSense System.
Marcelo P. de Castro, 1 , 2 , 3 ,* Marco Meucci, 4 Denise P. Soares, 1 , 3 Pedro Fonseca, 3 Márcio Borgonovo-Santos, 1 ,3 Filipa Sousa, 1 , 3 Leandro Machado, 1 , 3 and João Paulo Vilas-Boas 1 , 3

Podcast 112: Strengthening the foot's arch


Interested in our stuff ? Want to buy some of our lectures or our National Shoe Fit program? Click here (thegaitguys.com or thegaitguys.tumblr.com) and you will come to our websites. In the tabs, you will find tabs for STORE, SEMINARS, BOOK etc. We also lecture every 3rd Wednesday of the month on onlineCE.com. We have an extensive catalogued library of our courses there, you can take them any time for a nominal fee (~$20).
 

Show links:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/thegaitguys/pod_112f.mp3
http://traffic.libsyn.com/thegaitguys/pod_112f.mp3
* and on iTunes, Soundcloud, and just about every other podcast harbor site, just google "the gait guys podcast", you will find us.
 

Show notes:

Job security, become so good and so unique that Ai cant replace your skills as a doctor
http://www.techinsider.io/age-of-ems-machines-will-take-over-all-jobs-2016-8

How prosthetics are working now, and will in the future
and why you should be scared
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2016/08/04/researches-think-we-may-have-to-protect-our-brains-from-hackers-in-a-few-years/

Open talk about how coordination is the first strength changes someone notes. It comes before true strength is achieved. It is neurologic, and its can feel decievingly safe, but it is a lie.

Foot Strengthening ?
https://drjohnrusin.com/advanced-strength-training-for-feet/

http://www.jospt.org/doi/abs/10.2519/jospt.2016.6482?platform=hootsuite&

Impaired Foot Plantar Flexor Muscle Performance in Individuals With Plantar Heel Pain and Association With Foot Orthosis Use

Tags:
foot arch, foot intrinsics, short foot, yoga toes, gastrocnemius, soleus, heel pain, hammer toes, correct toes, foot exercises, thegaitguys, squatting, gait, gait analysis, gait assessment,  orthotics, prosthetics
 

What is Visual Parallax and how does it affect gait analysis? : Is your video gait analysis really telling you what you think it is telling you ?

We recently were asked by a student at a physical therapy school to help with a teaching case. They asked us to look at a gait video to assist in outlining some things in the case.  Here was our response.
“Hello Jane Doe
We are happy to look at the video for you so you and others can learn.
Just please know, as we say all the time here on the Gait Guys, that without an examination that what we are all seeing is not the problem rather the persons compensatory strategy around the dysfunctional parts.
Plus, video negates binocular parallax viewing so things that would stand out in in a exam where we are physically present will be masked quite a bit in/on video or on a computer screen. We try to minimize these visual losses by getting multiplanar gait video views (sagittal from front and back and coronal from left and right sides) but even these will not fill the visual gap from transferring data from 3D to 2D and then trying to interpret a 3D answer from the 2D.  But it is the best one can do with our technology today unless you use a body suit sensor system, and then you still have the limitations of "what you see is not the problem, its their compensation” so one still needs the physical exam to put the puzzle together.
Here…….. read this if you are wondering what we mean.
*This blog article (link below) which we wrote 18 month ago is the heart of what we wanted you to read today. Visual parallax and binocular vision both need to be understood so that you can better understand why what you see on your gait analysis video might not be what  you think you are seeing. Seeing is one thing, knowing what you are seeing is another, knowing the limitations and the “why” of what you are seeing is yet another.
So, we can tell you what we see………but without an exam we cannot tell you with great accuracy why you are seeing what we see.
that make sense ?“

best
shawn and ivo