title: Instrumentation and techniques in locomotion and lameness.
abstract: The success of a clinical gait laboratory depends on choosing the right equipment, installing it correctly, running calibration checks, and having skilled technical and professional personnel. For kinematic analysis, videographic or optoelectronic systems are the method of choice, with 2-D data being adequate for the majority of equine evaluations. A force plate provides a precise description of the 3-D ground reaction force; transmission of the force through the body tissues is measured using strain gauges attached to the bones and tendons. Accelerometers bonded to the hoof wall provide information describing the properties of the work surface. To date, clinical applications of these techniques has been limited by the time and expertise required to extract appropriate data. In the future, as more of the data manipulation is automated, gait analysis will become more practical in a clinical setting; already, artificial neural networks are being trained to diagnose lameness using kinematic data input.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Clayton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000592:standards / Q000662:veterinary*; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D006736:Horses / Q000502:physiology*; D007794:Lameness, Animal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D013710:Tendons / Q000502:physiology; D014741:Video Recording / Q000379:methods