Measurement of gait disability from tachographic gait records--an improved approach.

TLDR: The present authors have modified the gait recording setup with a view to producing better transfer characteristics and also suggested a method for detailed analysis of the g walkers' gait curves.

Abstract: 1 I n t r o d u c t i o n THE tachographic gait recording technique based on recording the progressive component of the instantaneous velocity of the body's centre of gravity, as developed by GANGULI and MUKHERJEE (1973, 1977) offered scope for improvement with regard to the recording setup as well as the method of analysing the gait curves. The present authors have modified the gait recording setup with a view to producing better transfer characteristics and also suggested a method for detailed analysis of the gait curves 9 This method of gait curve analysis provides a set of eight normalised parameters to represent the pattern associated with the corresponding person's gait curves. A gait cycle may be divided into four phases of amplitude and time, i.e. the acceleration and the retardation phases when one leg is swinging and the same two phases when the other leg is swinging. Four out of these eight parameters represent the total velocity changes during each phase and the other four parameters represent the time durations of the phases (see Figs. 1A and 1B for illustration). The amplitude parameters are normalised with the average of t h e four amplitude parameters (i .e.a. = 4A./EA.) and the time parameters are normalised with the average of the four time parameters (i .e.t . = 4T./ET,,), so that this set of eight parameters of gait is independent of the walking cadence and