{"title":"Comparison of gait between stroke patients and healthy volunteers using knee-ankle-foot orthoses with adjustable knee flexion.","authors":"Minoru Murayama","doi":"10.1589/jpts.37.107","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>[Purpose] This study aimed to develop an easy-to-operate knee joint for knee-ankle-foot orthoses with four adjustable levels of knee flexion movement and ascertain how different ranges of motion in flexion affect the knee flexion angle during walking. [Participants and Methods] Eight stroke patients participated, for whom knee joints of knee-ankle-foot orthoses were constructed. During walking, the knee flexion angle was measured for the following four knee joint settings: free flexion, 15° of flexion, 30° of flexion, and fixed extension. These measurements were compared to those of eight healthy volunteers from a previous study. [Results] Gait analysis revealed that the knee flexion angle during mid-stance was significantly greater in stroke patients than in healthy volunteers when set to 30° of flexion and in free flexion. [Conclusion] Appropriate adjustment of the range of knee mobility using a knee joint developed for knee-ankle-foot orthoses can prevent disuse atrophy caused by using knee-ankle-foot orthoses with a fixed knee joint.</p>","PeriodicalId":16834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Therapy Science","volume":"37 3","pages":"107-111"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11872184/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Physical Therapy Science","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.37.107","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
[Purpose] This study aimed to develop an easy-to-operate knee joint for knee-ankle-foot orthoses with four adjustable levels of knee flexion movement and ascertain how different ranges of motion in flexion affect the knee flexion angle during walking. [Participants and Methods] Eight stroke patients participated, for whom knee joints of knee-ankle-foot orthoses were constructed. During walking, the knee flexion angle was measured for the following four knee joint settings: free flexion, 15° of flexion, 30° of flexion, and fixed extension. These measurements were compared to those of eight healthy volunteers from a previous study. [Results] Gait analysis revealed that the knee flexion angle during mid-stance was significantly greater in stroke patients than in healthy volunteers when set to 30° of flexion and in free flexion. [Conclusion] Appropriate adjustment of the range of knee mobility using a knee joint developed for knee-ankle-foot orthoses can prevent disuse atrophy caused by using knee-ankle-foot orthoses with a fixed knee joint.