CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Abstract The foot plays a crucial role in walking as it constantly adjusts its contact with the ground to propel the body forward. In unimpaired individuals, the common initial foot contact patterns involves the transition from initial contact at the heel, followed by a rolling motion through the middle foot and forefoot, and concluding with toe-off. Also, the common final contact pattern follows the same sequences. However, amputees adapt their gait biomechanics to ensure 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 for both initial foot contact pattern and final contact pattern. Plantar pressure data was collected from eleven participants with transtibial amputation, and from nine unimpaired subjectsThe 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 results reveal that while a consistent initial contact pattern is observed, the heel is not always the first point of contact for the prosthetic foot. Furthermore, the study highlights that approximately a quarter 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 prosthetic foot, a change is observed on the medio-lateral movement of the foot roll-over. Movement from the heel is anteriorly and medially and then anteriorly and laterally, suggesting an instability of amputee gait.

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