title: Effect of heel pressure pad attached to ankle-foot orthosis on the energy conversion efficiency in post-stroke hemiplegic gait.
abstract: [Purpose] This study aimed to analyze the effect of heel pads in ankle-foot orthoses on dynamic motion aspects of gait in stroke patients from the viewpoint of energy conversion efficiency. [Subjects] Fourteen chronic stroke patients who were ambulatory and had lower extremity motor function categorized as Brunnstrom stage IV participated in the study. [Methods] A three-dimensional motion analysis system was used to assess the effect of heel pad intervention on dynamic motion gait parameters using a single-system A-B-A design. [Results] The results showed that a heel pad attached to the ankle-foot orthosis caused significant retention of the center-of-pressure at the heel during the heel rocker function and significant increase in the dorsiflexion moment and the height of the center of gravity. [Conclusion] The present study showed that a heel pad attached to the calcaneal region of an ankle-foot orthosis caused slight retention of the center-of-pressure at the heel during the heel rocker function along with center of gravity elevation in the stance phase and improved the energy conversion efficiency, especially on the non-paretic side.
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthetics and Orthotics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University of Science, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kon
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthetics and Orthotics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University of Science, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hayakawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthetics and Orthotics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University of Science, Japan.
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthetics and Orthotics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University of Science, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuruga
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthetics and Orthotics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University of Science, Japan.
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murahara
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University of Science, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haruna
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University of Science, Japan.
authors.forename: Takumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ino
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University of Science, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Inagaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University of Science, Japan.
authors.forename: Sumiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
keywords: Heel pad; Hemiplegic gait; Three-dimensional motion analysis