title: Comparison of gait between young adults fitted with the space foot and nondisabled persons.
abstract: Prosthetic feet having new keel configurations were specially designed to store deformation energy during early and midstance and release it at push-off. These prosthetic components display longitudinal symmetry favoring good energy storage/release capability in the sagittal plane. The need for inverters/everters either as independent components or within the foot structure has long been recognized. This article documents the walking and slow jogging performances of six young adults wearing below-knee prostheses fitted with the Space Foot, a flexible foot prosthesis that provides medio-lateral control at heel-strike and lateral and forward propulsion at push-off. Results indicate that the Space Foot behaves as a flexible keel foot prosthesis. Its gait performances are also good for fast walking; however, the Space Foot's actual design should be modified if used in sporting activities involving running.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Etude du Mouvement, Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Prince
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Allard
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: McFadyen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aissaoui
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007590:Jogging / Q000502:physiology*; D007866:Leg; D008297:Male; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014743:Videotape Recording; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*; D016474:Weight-Bearing