A Comparison of Joint Torques and Powers During Overground Versus Treadmill Walking in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease
Advisor Information
Sara Myers
Location
Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
7-3-2014 1:00 PM
End Date
7-3-2014 4:00 PM
Abstract
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is the result of atherosclerotic occlusion of the leg arteries leading to inadequate blood flow to the muscles. This limitation of blood flow then leads to pain during walking. Prior research in our lab has identified specific gait abnormalities with respect to this population during overground walking. However, recent advances in instrumented treadmills may benefit researchers by decreasing collection time, decreasing space required, and the ability to see how gait changes over time. Particularly important for individuals PAD and other pathology is that the use of a treadmill will significantly decrease the data collection time and the duration of time spent in pain. The treadmill has been commonly used to simulate overground walking; however research has not fully determined whether there are biomechanical differences when walking on the treadmill versus walking overground. Thus, this research evaluated whether treadmill walking accurately represents overground walking by measuring ground reaction forces, joint torques and joint powers. For this research two groups were collected including: 5 healthy elderly (aged 40 years and older), and 5 patients with PAD. The overground trials consisted of walking over force plates while kinematic and kinetic data was collected at the participant’s self-selected speed. Kinematic and kinetic data from treadmill trials were collected after finding the subject’s self-selected speed on the treadmill. The healthy subjects walked for 3 minutes on the treadmill and the patients with PAD walked until pain occurred. Differences found between overground and treadmill walking will be discussed for each population. Implications for future research design and methodology when studying pathological populations will be presented.
A Comparison of Joint Torques and Powers During Overground Versus Treadmill Walking in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease
Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is the result of atherosclerotic occlusion of the leg arteries leading to inadequate blood flow to the muscles. This limitation of blood flow then leads to pain during walking. Prior research in our lab has identified specific gait abnormalities with respect to this population during overground walking. However, recent advances in instrumented treadmills may benefit researchers by decreasing collection time, decreasing space required, and the ability to see how gait changes over time. Particularly important for individuals PAD and other pathology is that the use of a treadmill will significantly decrease the data collection time and the duration of time spent in pain. The treadmill has been commonly used to simulate overground walking; however research has not fully determined whether there are biomechanical differences when walking on the treadmill versus walking overground. Thus, this research evaluated whether treadmill walking accurately represents overground walking by measuring ground reaction forces, joint torques and joint powers. For this research two groups were collected including: 5 healthy elderly (aged 40 years and older), and 5 patients with PAD. The overground trials consisted of walking over force plates while kinematic and kinetic data was collected at the participant’s self-selected speed. Kinematic and kinetic data from treadmill trials were collected after finding the subject’s self-selected speed on the treadmill. The healthy subjects walked for 3 minutes on the treadmill and the patients with PAD walked until pain occurred. Differences found between overground and treadmill walking will be discussed for each population. Implications for future research design and methodology when studying pathological populations will be presented.