ProtoKinetics For Educators

ProtoKinetics PKMAS gait analysis software and Zeno Walkway gait analysis system are excellent tools for educators to enhance their curriculum for teaching clinical gait analysis.

With these gait and balance assessments, educators can demonstrate that observational gait analysis can be enhanced with objective and quantitative data to discover underlying reasons for gait abnormalities which may not be gleaned by observation alone.

Many medical specialties, such as podiatrists, neurologists, pediatricians, physical therapists, geriatricians, prosthetists, orthotists, orthopedists, sports physicians, and others, use gait analysis software for tracking the efficacy of interventions such as surgical, therapeutic, and pharmacologic.

But to make optimal treatment decisions, health professionals need in-depth analysis of body segment misalignment, spasticity, ankle, knee, hip or back dysfunction, and other factors.

Using observational gait analysis (OGA) alone tends to focus on gross deviations in the patient’s gait and may miss pathophysiology that reveals underlying conditions. Only a gait analysis using instrumentation can show more subtle, underlying causes for the deviation. These discoveries can significantly change intervention protocols.

ProtoKinetics Provides Measurable & Repeatable Data on Gait Analysis

As a noninvasive method of detection, ProtoKinetics’ gait analysis & assessment systems provide data on the impact of impairments on functional movement.

Quantitative Gait Analysis like that provided by ProtoKinetics PKMAS and Zeno Walkway better characterize the cause of an abnormal gait. It differentiates the patient’s primary and secondary abnormalities and compensatory strategies.

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This gait and balance assessment data can be used to track the progression of neuromuscular diseases, evaluate post-surgical success and functional outcomes, verify the effectiveness of surgical procedures, track the progression of neuromuscular diseases and create standards and baselines against which a patient’s progress during treatment can be compared.

Benefits of quantitative gait analysis with PKMAS software and ZENO Walkway in an educational setting:

Educators can use data from the PKMAS gait analysis software and Zeno Walkway gait analysis system to illuminate the gait cycle for their students and define, “what is gait?”

This data can be a helpful adjunct to observational gait analysis in studying conditions that lead to gait abnormalities in patients with stroke, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and many other conditions.

For example:

A patient with hemiplegic stroke is dragging their toes when walking, a classic symptom of foot drop.

 

ProtoKinetics ZENO Walkway mat and PKMAS software can analyze the precise movements of the patient’s foot strike, whether it’s heel-toe, plantar grade, or toe-heel, and what movement leads to or accompanies the patient dragging their toes.

 

The subtleties in this motion can be difficult to ascertain by observation alone but are necessary in accurately tracking interventions.

 

Depending on which specialty is being taught, the data can aid students in determining what the most appropriate intervention is for this patient to relieve their abnormal gait – for example, how does changing the bracing options for this patient affect the gait pattern?

For students conducting research, ProtoKinetics gait and balance assessment systems are the perfect tools, as they’re easy to set up and administer, and interpretation of the data poses few technical hurdles. One does not need a strong technical background to operate the ZENO Walkway mat and PKMAS software.

ProtoKinetics PKMAS software and ZENO Walkway mat provide gait kinematics and gait kinetics data such as:

  • temporal and spatial parameters
  • coefficient of variation
  • footfall
  • relative pressure
  • step and stride
  • gait phase
  • gait cycle
  • velocity
  • distance
  • coordinates
  • Center of Pressure (COP)
  • static measurements such as quiet standing
  • and more.

As healthcare quickly moves towards outcomes which require quantitative analysis, shorter hospital stays, and increased function, measuring gait is very useful in tracking patient progress, functional loss or disability. Comparing data from gait analysis made before, during and after intervention can guide protocols and show when the effect of the intervention has plateaued.