Kim Jaewook, Kim Yekwang, Moon Juhui, Kong Joo, Kim Seung-Jong
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea.
J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2023 May 4;8(2):56. doi: 10.3390/jfmk8020056.
Basic human ambulation relies on a bipedal gait, which has been reported to be directly related to quality of life. However, injuries to the lower limb can cause an inability to walk and require non-weightbearing periods to heal. Among the many ambulatory aids, standard axillary crutches are prescribed. However, due to the disadvantages of having to use both hands, a slow gait, pain, nerve damage, and gait patterns that differ from that of healthy subjects, currently, a new generation of ambulatory aids has emerged. Among such aids, hands-free crutches (HFCs) are of particular interest due to their form factor, which does not require the use of the hands and facilitates a bipedal gait. In this study, we present an assessment of whether any different gait patterns, compared to overground gait, appeared on the unaffected limb during walking with an HFC. The spatiotemporal parameters, plantar force, lower-limb joint angles, and EMG patterns were evaluated. In conclusion, the results from 10 healthy subjects suggest that wearing an HFC causes only slight changes in the biomechanical gait patterns examined in the unaffected limb compared with overground walking without an HFC.
人类的基本行走依赖于双足步态，据报道，双足步态与生活质量直接相关。然而，下肢受伤会导致无法行走，需要非负重期来恢复。在众多的助行器具中，标准腋拐被广泛使用。然而，由于必须双手使用、步态缓慢、疼痛、神经损伤以及与健康受试者不同的步态模式等缺点，目前，新一代的助行器具已经出现。在这些助行器具中，免提拐杖（HFC）因其外形因素而备受关注，它不需要使用双手，并且有助于双足步态。在本研究中，我们评估了在使用HFC行走时，与地面行走相比，未受影响的肢体上是否出现了任何不同的步态模式。我们评估了时空参数、足底压力、下肢关节角度和肌电图模式。总之，10名健康受试者的结果表明，与不使用HFC的地面行走相比，佩戴HFC只会使未受影响肢体的生物力学步态模式发生轻微变化。
