Lower Limb Joint Loading with Walking

Lower Limb Joint Loading with Walking 

Project Leads: Alex Clark, Blake Jones, Austin Anderson, Daniel Morgan, Sam Crawford

*vASB 2020: Medial and lateral tibiofemoral stance phase joint force impulse (A & B) and peak force (C & D) for prosthetic (Pros-blue) and intact (orange) limbs across three speeds (slow, preferred (Pref), fast); publication in process 

Knee osteoarthritis is common among different patient populations, such as people who are obese or have lower extremity amputations, which results in lower function and quality of life. It has been hypothesized osteoarthritis in these populations could be the result of greater knee loading or asymmetric knee joint loads between limbs. We are developing a method of calculating real-time knee joint loads while walking and visually displaying these loading estimates. The purpose of giving visual feedback to patients is to assist them in adjusting their walking patterns to improve knee loading. Motion and force data are captured in the Human Movement Analysis Laboratory, which allows for real-time calculations and feedback to be presented to participants. One of our initial projects that will utilize real-time joint loading feedback is to apply external load carriage and have participants maintain symmetric and unloaded joint loading levels. The purpose of this project is to investigate if gait adaptation can attenuate increases in knee joint loads during load carriage, and if real-time visual feedback can be used to maintain loading symmetry during load carriage. A longer–term goal is to find analogous measures of real-time knee joint loading that can be used in rehabilitation clinics as well as at home, allowing gait feedback to be utilized by more people and result in a greater reduction in knee osteoarthritis.  

Presented Work

  1. Jones & Clark 2022 APTA CSM Knee Joint Loading and Realtime Vertical Ground Reaction Force Biofeedback with Vest-Borne Loads
    1. Abstract
  2. Clark & Jones 2022 APTA CSM Knee Joint Loading Distribution with Vest-Borne Loads
    1. abstract
  3. Clark & Willson 2020 ECU CAHS Research Day Knee Joint Loading in People with a Unilateral Transtibial Amputation Across Walking Speed
    1. Abstract
    2. poster