Contact pattern of the foot during walking in transtibial amputees

EUGENIA SOLEDAD MUÑOZ LARROSA; MAURICIO RIVERA; CAMILA DURÉ; GASTÓN SCHLOTTHAUER; PAOLA CATALFAMO FORMENTO

IFMBE PROCEEDINGS

Springer

Año: 2023

1680-0737

Abstract. The foot plays a crucial role in walking as it constantly adjusts its con-tact with the ground to propel the body forward. In unimpaired individuals, the common initial and final foot contact patterns involves the transition from initial contact at the heel, followed by a rolling motion through the middlefoot and fore-foot, and concluding with toe-off. Amputees adapt their gait biomechanics to en-sure a coordinated and efficient walking pattern. The specific foot contact patterns of individuals with unilateral transtibial amputation have not been studied yet. This research aimed to identify the foot contact patterns of transtibials amputees. Plantar pressure data was collected from eleven participants with transtibial am-putation, and from nine unimpaired subjects. The surface of the sole of the foot was divided in seven regions (foot masks) and the time of initial contact and final contact for each mask was calculated. Then the initial and final contact pattern was built from the individual initial and final contact of the foot masks. The re-sults reveal that while a consistent initial contact pattern is observed, the heel is not always the first point of contact for the prosthetic foot. Approximately a quar-ter of all the steps studied presents the forefoot masks, rather than the toes, as the lasts to contact the ground during foot-off for the unimpaired foot. For the pros-thetic foot, a change is observed on medio-lateral movement of foot roll-over. Movement from the heel is anteriorly and medially and then anteriorly and lateral-ly, suggesting an instability of amputee gait.