title: A portable system for foot biomechanical analysis during gait.
abstract: Modeling the foot is challenging due to its complex structure compared to most other body segments. To analyze the biomechanics of the foot, portable devices have been designed to allow measurement of temporal, spatial, and pedobarographic parameters. The goal of this study was to design and evaluate a portable system for kinematic and dynamic analysis of the foot during gait. This device consisted of a force plate synchronized with four cameras and integrated into a walkway. The complete system can be packaged for transportation. First, the measurement system was assessed using reference objects to evaluate accuracy and precision. Second, nine healthy participants were assessed during gait trials using both the portable and Vicon systems (coupled with a force plate). The ankle and metatarsophalangeal (MP) joint angles and moments were computed, as well as the ground reaction force (GRF). The intra- and inter-subject variability was analyzed for both systems, as well as the inter-system variation. The accuracy and precision were, respectively 0.4 mm and 0.4 mm for linear values and 0.5° and 0.6° for angular values. The variability of the portable and Vicon systems were similar (i.e., the inter-system variability never exceeded 2.1°, 0.081 Nmkg(-1) and 0.267 Nkg(-1) for the angles, moments and GRF, respectively). The inter-system differences were less than the inter-subject variability and similar to the intra-subject variability. Consequently, the portable system was considered satisfactory for biomechanical analysis of the foot, outside of a motion analysis laboratory.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Functional Anatomy (CP 619), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), route de Lennik 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: william.samson.59@gmail.com.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Samson
authors.affiliation: Lion Systems S.A., ecostart 2, rue du commerce, L-3895 Foetz, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Functional Anatomy (CP 619), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), route de Lennik 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium; Laboratory of Anatomy, Biomechanics and Organogenesis (CP 619), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), route de Lennik, 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salvia
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Anatomy, Biomechanics and Organogenesis (CP 619), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), route de Lennik, 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Serge Van Sint
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Jan
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Functional Anatomy (CP 619), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), route de Lennik 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Feipel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000502:physiology*; D033023:Foot Joints / Q000502:physiology; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software
keywords: Dynamics; Foot; Joint; Kinematics; Mobile device