Warren Gordon L, Maher Ruth M, Higbie Elizabeth J
Department of Physical Therapy, MSC 8L0388, Georgia State University, 33 Gilmer Street, SE, Unit 8, Atlanta, GA 30303-3088, USA.
Gait Posture. 2004 Feb;19(1):91-100. doi: 10.1016/s0966-6362(03)00031-6.
Plantar pressure assessment is a tool useful for study of the gait cycle. In this study, we present a means of assessing the gait cycle using a temporal analysis of plantar pressures and lower-leg muscle activities. Plantar pressures and surface electromyography (EMG) of the tibialis anterior (TA) and medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscles were recorded as 19 men walked on a treadmill at seven speeds between 0.45 and 1.79 m/s. A typical 'heel strike to toe off' gait pattern was observed. Speed had minimal effects on the shapes of the muscle EMG root-mean-square-and plantar pressure-time curves except for the pressure-time curves in the heel and midfoot. A linear relationship was found between speed and peak pressures in the heel, medial forefoot, and toes; pressures in these regions increased by 91-289% going from 0.45 to 1.79 m/s. The temporal pressure changes in the forefoot and toes were paralleled by changes in MG muscle activity (i.e., cross-correlations of > or =0.90); TA muscle activity was not cross-correlated with the temporal pressure patterns in any region. However, the peak values of TA muscle activity were found to be highly correlated across speeds with peak pressures in the heel and toes (i.e., r > or =0.98); similar high correlations were found between peak values of MG muscle activity and heel pressure. In summary, these data collected on able-bodied persons during motorized treadmill walking can be useful for comparison to those of patients undergoing treadmill evaluations for atypical gait cycle patterns and for tracking the progress of patients during gait rehabilitation.
足底压力评估是研究步态周期的一种有用工具。在本研究中，我们提出了一种通过对足底压力和小腿肌肉活动进行时间分析来评估步态周期的方法。当19名男性以0.45至1.79米/秒之间的七种速度在跑步机上行走时，记录其足底压力以及胫骨前肌（TA）和腓肠肌内侧头（MG）的表面肌电图（EMG）。观察到典型的“脚跟触地到脚尖离地”步态模式。除了脚跟和中足的压力-时间曲线外，速度对肌肉EMG均方根和足底压力-时间曲线的形状影响最小。研究发现，脚跟、前脚掌内侧和脚趾的速度与峰值压力之间存在线性关系；从0.45米/秒到1.79米/秒，这些区域的压力增加了91%-289%。前脚掌和脚趾的瞬时压力变化与MG肌肉活动的变化平行（即互相关系数≥0.90）；TA肌肉活动与任何区域的瞬时压力模式均无互相关。然而，发现TA肌肉活动的峰值在不同速度下与脚跟和脚趾的峰值压力高度相关（即r≥0.98）；MG肌肉活动峰值与脚跟压力之间也发现了类似的高度相关性。总之，这些在健康人电动跑步机行走过程中收集的数据，可用于与接受跑步机评估以检测非典型步态周期模式的患者的数据进行比较，并用于跟踪患者在步态康复过程中的进展情况。
