Publication Date
Fall 2024
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Biomedical Engineering
Advisor
Mojtaba Sharifi; Matthew Leineweber; Patrick Jurney
Keywords
above-knee-amputation;gait symmetry;prosthetic;vibrotactile
Abstract
People with unilateral transfemoral amputation (uTFA) experience higher rates of secondary injury, including arthritis, back pain, and osteoporosis, compared to either the general population or people with other lower limb amputation. Gait asymmetry may contribute to the higher incidence of each of these injuries. A biofeedback intervention targeting increased maximum hip extension on the affected side was implemented at two clinical sites to evaluate its efficacy compared to traditional physical therapy gait training. The intervention implements positive vibrotactile feedback by monitoring a participant’s gait and notifying them when they reach and exceed a target hip extension by providing vibrations at each wrist. The intervention was compared to a control intervention of verbal cuing targeting increased affected side hip-extension. Automated data analysis was implemented to process the raw kinetic, kinematic, and heart rate data collected during the trial. The analysis automatically cleans, filters, and segments the gait data before evaluating measures of deviation from normative gait, symmetry, and gait efficiency. The clinical trial is still in the enrollment phase, so no conclusion can yet be drawn on the efficacy of the biofeedback intervention or on its performance relative to the control.
Recommended Citation
Martin-Ginnold, Alexander P., "Refinement and Execution of a Clinical Trial on Biofeedback for Gait Retraining for People With Unilateral Transfemoral Amputation" (2024). Master's Theses. 5600.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.xcn7-29et
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/5600
