OBJECTIVE From early onset of the disease, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experience walking impairments. Pathologic effects of RA on foot and ankle structures have been studied clinically, but little is known as to how they relate to kinematic changes during gait. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between clinically observed pathologies of foot and ankle joints and...

Research on unperturbed stance is largely based on a one-segment inverted pendulum model. Recently, an increasing number of studies report a contribution of other major joints to postural control. Therefore this study evaluates whether the conclusions originating from the research based on a one-segment model adequately capture postural sway during unperturbed stance. High-pass filtered kinemat...

A sprained ankle is a common musculoskeletal sports injury and it is often treated by immobilization of the joint. Despite the beneficial effects of this therapeutic measure, the high prevalence of residual symptoms affects the quality of life, and remobilization of the joint can reverse this situation. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of immobilization and remobilization on the...

The causes of able-bodied gait asymmetries are unclear. Mild (< 3 cm) leg-length inequality (LLI) may be one cause of these asymmetries; however, this idea has not been thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of the relationship between LLI and able-bodied gait asymmetries. We hypothesized that subjects (n = 26) with relatively large LLI, quantified radi...

[Purpose] This study examined the effects of balance training by applying knee joint movements on muscle activity in male adults with functional ankle instability. [Subjects and Methods] 28 adults with functional ankle instability, divided randomly into an experimental group, which performed balance training by applying knee joint movements for 20 minutes and ankle joint exercises for 10 minute...

Post-traumatic ankle arthritis can be a very disabling condition especially in young patients. Localization of the pain is important to allow appropriate treatment. Non-surgical treatment options include anti-inflammatory medications and use of bracing. Multiple surgical options range from joint sparing procedures for the younger patient to total ankle replacement for the older, less active pat...

Background Ability of balance maintenance and postural control is important to prevent falling and injuries when balance perturbations occurs during walking. Injuries due to unloading of the base of support in walking and running such as ankle sprain has high incidence. Poor muscle function may put the joint in unstable condition. The association of the unloading and poor muscle function in the...

Muscular rigidity and atrophy caused by long-term underactivity usually lead to foot drop, strephenopodia, foot extorsion or some other complications for the lower limb movement disorders or lower limb surgery sufferers. The ankle-foot orthosis can help patients conduct the right ankle motion mode training, inhibit spasm and prevent ankle complications. In this paper, a quasi-passive 3 DOFs ank...

This study presented a model-based image-matching (MBIM) motion analysis technique for ankle joint kinematic measurement. Five cadaveric below-hip specimens were manipulated through a full range of ankle joint motions in bare-foot and shoed conditions. The ankle motions were analyzed by bone-pin marker-based motion analysis and MBIM motion analysis techniques respectively. The root mean square ...

This study aims to investigate the effects of wearing high (HS) & low-top (LS) basketball shoes on the ankle joint kinematics, kinetics, and performance in the sagittal plane during different maneuvers. 12 subjects performed weight-bearing dorsiflexion (WB-DF) movement, drop jumps (DJ), and lay-up jumps (LU) in two shoe conditions. Wearing HS can significantly reduce ankle joint excursion in WB...