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Cover Story
Have you ever asked yourself this simple question: why do we measure and analyze gait? Overall, the answers will revolve around the same ideas: to gauge the functional status of a person; to follow-up the natural history of a disease; to determine immediate or long-term treatment requirement and effects.
By Arnaud Gouelle, PhD, and Patrick Roscher, MS
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Special Features
OF GAIT ANALYSES AND ELEPHANTS
While researching the history of gait analysis to prepare for this issue, the parable of the blind men and the elephant kept coming to mind. The ancient story is of a group of blind men who have never seen an elephant. On encountering a live elephant, they each touch a different part of the large mammal and come away thinking they know what it is. They then describe the elephant based on their own experience and find all their descriptions differ. The moral of the story points to the tendency of humans to claim they know things based solely on their own experience, not recognizing that others may have completely different experiences. Could this be the case with gait analysis and the various subspecialties who treat the lower extremity? Is gait analysis being used to its fullest extent?
With this issue, LER is pleased to open an ongoing partnership with the Gait and Balance Academy to provide an in-depth look at all things gait analysis. The introduction to this partnership, “How Do We Use Gait Analysis to Measure Walking Consistency,” is written by Arnaud Gouelle, PhD, and Patrick Roscher, MS, from ProtoKinetics; the article begins on page 27. We look forward to your feedback.
But first, to broaden the narrative, a sampling of perspectives on how gait analysis is used in some specific circumstances.
Janice T. Radak, Editor
In 2012, I entered the digital world of orthotics and prosthetics (O&P), but did not fully understand the potential. The practice was a traditional brick and mortar O&P company with a satellite location. The business was built around spinal orthotics, but prosthetics was the…
By Terrell S. Tate, BOCP,CO
A study estimated that nearly two-thirds of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. could be attributed to obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure. The findings give insight into how underlying conditions contribute to hospitalizations during the pandemic.
With vaccine availability leading to a potential turning point in the global COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. health crisis is far from over. One year after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, many adults report undesired changes to their weight, increased drinking, and other negative behavior changes that may…
Researchers from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance studied 3,729 people with RMDs and COVID-19. In common with the general population, older age was more closely linked to COVID-19 related death. Out of those who died, 69% were over the age of 65.
Over 2 million Americans visit the doctor each year for foot and ankle pain stemming from a degenerative condition or injury. Ankle-foot orthoses can effectively manage symptoms, but traditional designs have limitations. This study investigated the acute impact of a novel…
Every 20 seconds, somewhere around the world, someone loses their leg because of diabetes. A commentary in the March issue of Foot & Ankle Surgery: Techniques, Reports & Cases, a new journal from the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, introduced the American Limb Preservation Society (ALPS) with the proverb…
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The effects of a single night of complete & partial sleep deprivation on performance. 10 males completed a test battery following 3 different sleep conditions.
Industry News & Updates
A team of engineers, radiologists, and physicians from the University of Cambridge have developed an algorithm that builds a 3D model of an individual’s knee joint to map where arthritis is affecting the knee. It then automatically creates ‘change maps,’ which not only…
Physical therapists could soon have something new in their toolbox to improve outcomes for survivors of stroke whose gait has been affected, thanks to a $100,000 Magistro Family Foundation Research Grant awarded to a University of Southern California (USC) Division of…
Ground-breaking research into cellular reprogramming, made possible in part with funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), is leading to technology that could heal wounds more than 5 times faster than the human body can…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recently provided guidance to the Durable Medical Equipment Medicare Administrative Contractors (DME MACs) that allows nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) to certify the medical need for diabetic shoes…
DJO, LLC, Lewisville, TX, announced the acquisition of Trilliant Surgical, Houston, TX, a national provider of foot and ankle orthopedic implants. The acquisition supports DJO’s focused expansion into the adjacent high-growth $1 billion US foot and ankle market.
ATI Physical Therapy (ATI), Bolingbrook, IL, has launched new limb loss specialty centers that expand the use of outpatient physical therapy (PT) and creates a stronger care continuum for patients who are scheduled to undergo limb loss surgery or have experienced limb loss.
