Gait Analysis
Movement isn’t always stationary, Kinetisense can measure and gain insight to Gait analysis
Our Innovative Technology Improves Patient Outcomes
Take all information into account to improve diagnoses and take the proper action.
Assess Patients Better With Kinetisense
The Kinetisense Advanced Movement Screen (KAMS) module is a versatile and complete tool for physical therapists and medical professionals for analyzing GAIT and discover flaws. Kinetisense’s functional 3D module brings a distinct advantage is through gait analysis.
What Is Gait Analysis?
In a clinical setting, gait analysis is an important factor that physical therapists use to evaluate movement.
Gait can be used to assess functional movement, including:
- Balance
- Stability
- Speed
- Stride Distance
- Gait Cycle
- Momentum Control
- Symmetry
- Limb and Trunk Motion
- Weight Transfer
- Running Style
- Foot Placement
Observing and measuring these attributes gives the practitioner valuable information about how a patient is recovering from injury. Any patient who has had a long lapse from running or is training toward a new goal will benefit from a thorough assessment of how their legs, knees, ankles, and feet move with the rest of their body. Gait is one of the most noticeable body movements to be altered when an athlete is favoring one side over another. But even if a limp is noticeable, it is difficult to assess how severe an injury is or how effective treatments have been when recovering from a recent injury. Gait dysfunctions are related to many different types of underlying conditions. Practitioners have used different strategies and tools when doing giat analysis, such as:
Observation ‘A patient walks back and forth so the PT can observe any abnormalities in the patient’s gait pattern.’
Gait Speed Measurements ‘This is when the PT times a patient’s walking speed.’
Balance Tests ‘Balance relates directly to risk of falling. Also, balance is affected when any lower body injury is healing, meaning a patient will favor one side over the other.’
Motor Control ‘A patient’s muscles must work in unison to propel them forward or backward.’ When this is out of sync, or if the patient is compensating for an injury, it will be noticeable through motor control.
Range of Motion Measurements ‘This test helps determine whether the dysfunction is related to musculoskeletal limitations.’
With Kinetisense technology, the subjective way of assessing and analyzing gait is a thing of the past.
All these tools are related to observing a patient, but the determination of the severity of these tests is solely based on the experience and judgement of the PT giving the test. This results in a wide range of diagnoses and differing opinions of how an athlete needs to recover from an injury or whether they are clear to return to normal activity. Physical therapy is such a personal form of rehabilitation. The best way a physician can make the most informed decision for a patient is through objective analysis from measurable data.
How Kinetisense Improves Gait Assessments
When a physical therapist performs a visual assessment of a patient, they have to observe motion at nine points on the body: head, shoulders, arms, torso, pelvis, hips, knees, ankles, and feet. At the same time, the PT has to observe the patient’s movement, including gait, across three planes. ‘Observes’ is the key here, because for the most part the only information a PT has about movements and gait is found through observation. Before Kinetisense, the technology available for physical therapists came in a number of forms, all with unique limitations.
Wearable Technology ‘This can be in the form of stickers or pressure-sensitive sensors in footwear. Wearables can be very accurate, providing useful and objective data for assessment. But a major drawback to wearable technology is the time it takes to fit the sensors to the patient, calibrate them, and gather information.’
Kinetic Technology ‘Some recent technologies take the form of mats, walkways, and in-shoe sensors that can provide comparable measurements to our system. They fall short of Kinetisense when it comes to portability.’
The Kinetisense functional movement screening tool is the simplest and most advanced technology available to assess movement quality and fundamental movement patterns.
Gait Analysis and Functional Movement Assessments
There is no single movement test that gives a full picture of a patient’s condition or their ability to return to normal action. A full functional movement assessment includes a number of tests, and one of the key movements is a full gait analysis.
Small differences in a person’s gait are very difficult to notice. But since gait analysis is such an important part of a functional movement assessment, it can therefore be a challenge to make meaningful observations that can provide a total picture of a patient’s functional movement. The purpose of an assessment is to closely evaluate movement and estimate a patient’s current ability.
This is where Kinetisense can provide an important piece of the puzzle. Since differences in gait are so subtle, our 3D motion capture technology that can assess motion across three planes, is the perfect tool physical therapists can use to detect these subtle differences. Kinetisense turns what would normally be subjective observations into objective, quantifiable analysis. Our reporting gives information about a patient’s gait in detail so a physical therapist or clinician can make diagnoses that are much more accurate.