Date of Award
Summer 1999
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Biomedical Engineering
Abstract
Motion analysis has been used for many years to study the lower extremity kinematic patterns in a variety of populations. Most notably it has proven to be a useful clinical tool in the pre and postoperative management of children with cerebral palsy. The models routinely used in lower extremity analysis, however, poorly represent the foot and ankle structure. Although this structure is well understood anatomically, information concerning the function of the foot and ankle complex during gait is scarce. This work is a corollary to the adult foot and ankle system developed at the Medical College of Wisconsin's Human Motion Analysis laboratory. Although the adult foot and ankle model has increased our understanding of this complex, it has not yet been adapted for pediatric use. Building on previous work, this thesis describes a hybrid motion analysis system developed to characterize the 3-D kinematics of the normal pediatric hindfoot and ankle complex during gait. This hybrid system may serve as the foundation for future work into developing more detailed future models that can be used clinically to help treat a number of pediatric foot and ankle pathologies. To date, no known literature has been published describing 3-D motion in a multi-segment model of the child's foot and ankle during gait.