Influence of the correctness of prosthetic equipment in a person with a motor organ dysfunction in relation to its mobility – pilot studies

Introduction: Movement organ dysfunctions generate a number of deficits in the physical, mental and social spheres, making it difficult to fulfill selected roles in social and professional life. The work focuses on the acquired motor organ dysfunction with a directly damaged motor apparatus as a result of an accident. The technical possibility of returning to professional activity of people after lower limb amputation was analyzed. Materials and methods: The research involved a test of the gait process in relation to the correctness of the gait cycle and the measurement of oxygen saturation in blood and pulse as indicators of the organism's involvement in the implementation of the locomotion process. Two people participated in the study. The first statistically represented a person (without amputation) aged 30-35. The second person represented a person after lower limb amputation at the level of the thigh equipped with an artificial lower limb prosthesis. Pilot tests were carried out in a laboratory using a sports treadmill on which locomotor activity was carried out in the form of walking at selected speeds. The load distribution in the foot as well as the heart rate and blood oxygen saturation with SpO2 were recorded. The study allowed to determine the correctness of gait during the implementation of the motion function of a person having a direct impact on their mobility. Results: The loads occurring in individual limbs for a healthy person showed a slight dispersion in relation to each other. The values of this dispersion did not exceed 4% for both mean and peak values. During the dynamic gait of the person wearing the prosthesis between the limbs, a 30% spread was recorded for the load. Observation of the participants' performance parameters were similar. In the process of realizing the longest gait cycle, the heart rate did not exceed 112 in a healthy person and 120 in a person with a motor organ dysfunction. An increase in the degree of blood oxygen saturation (saturation) was recorded in a healthy person at the SpO2 level of 1% and in a person with motor organ dysfunction at the SpO2 level of 3%. Conclusions: The conducted research has shown that a person with a motor organ dysfunction properly equipped with a prosthesis, according to his own level of activity, slightly increases the organism's involvement in the locomotion process. The results of the pilot studies showed that a correctly selected prosthesis together with a correctly re-learned gait can perform all the processes of locomotion at a similar energy expenditure as a healthy person. Properly selected prosthetic equipment for a person with a motor dysfunction means that the inconvenience of having an artificial lower limb does not significantly affect its mobility and the possibility of undertaking professional activity.