Socket Flexion and Gait of an Above-knee, Bilateral Amputee.

1 Chief, Bioengineering Laboratory, Veterans Administration Prosthetics Center, 252 Seventh Ave., New York 1, N. Y. M ANY factors affect the gait of an aboveknee, bilateral amputee as he walks on his prostheses. Among the factors are his general health and strength, the length and condition of his stumps, the alignment of his prostheses, his comfort, and the type of knee units employed. While some of these factors are difficult to observe accurately, others lend themselves to objective measurement and evaluation by means of current bioengineering techniques. Not long ago, the Bioengineering Laboratory of the Veterans Administration Prosthetics Center had occasion to evaluate the gait of an above-knee, bilateral amputee, and in the course of the evaluation developed records that show graphically the "before" and "after" effect of increased hip flexion of about 10 deg. in both sockets.