Title: Understanding Kinematic Relationships Within and Across Planes of Motion
Purpose: The purpose of this course is to demonstrate the role of motion analysis in gaining understanding of the relationship of joint and segment kinematics within and across planes of motion for a variety of gait pathologies.
Instructors:Sylvia Õunpuu, Kristan Pierz, Jennifer Rodriguez-MacClintic
Intended Audience: All personnel who are involved in the interpretation for treatment decision-making as well as the collection and processing of joint kinematic data. This includes, but is not limited to, physicians, physical therapists, kinesiologists, biomechanists and engineers.
Prerequisite Knowledge: Participants should have the basic understanding of how clinical gait analysis supports treatment decision-making, familiarity with gait analysis output and terminology related to kinematic data.
Outline of Course Content:
Clinical gait analysis data interpretation is a complex skill and requires general understanding of the gait pathology being studied as well as the specific joint level impairments for the patient being assessed. It also requires an understanding of the methods used to collect the motion data including the skeletal model that establishes the kinematic angle definitions. With this background knowledge, clinical gait analysis data can be interpreted for treatment decision-making purposes. During gait data interpretation, the primary goal is to define when gait pathology is present as a direct result of joint level impairments or muscle function and therefore a primary deviation. Gat deviations can also be secondary (at an adjacent joint) or a result of a voluntary compensation. The most appropriate treatment needs to be able to differentiate between these ways that a kinematic plot may not fall outside the reference data set.
This tutorial will have two components: a) background and definitions and, b) case studies to provide examples of interactions across planes that help to discern the difference between primary and secondary gait deviations and compensations. We will begin with an example of several joint angle definitions to emphasize the importance of this level of understanding joint kinematic data. We will then describe the definitions of within and cross plane interactions followed by primary, secondary and compensatory gait deviations.
This background will be followed by focused case examples of interactions across planes which will cover the majority of the tutorial. Each case study will illustrate a particular example of kinematic relationships within and across planes. These will be discussed in the context of primary, secondary and compensatory kinematic deviations. Most case examples will begin with a video segment and relevant clinical exam data for the particular joint of interest. These examples of within and across plane interactions will include pre and post-surgical outcomes data as well as barefoot and brace data that help to establish interactions across planes and what gait deviations are primary or other. The pathologies will include cerebral palsy as well as a variety of other neuromuscular gait disorders.
Learner-based Course Objectives: At the completion of the course, the participant should:
- To understand the importance of angle and segment definitions
- To understand the definition of within plane kinematic interactions
- To understand the definition of cross plane kinematic interactions
- To be familiar with common examples of within and across plane interactions for a variety of diagnoses of neuromuscular origin
Schedule:
Speaker 1: Sylvia Ounpuu (1 minute): Introductions and purpose
Speaker 1: Sylvia Ounpuu (9 minutes): Definitions of within and across plane interactions
Speaker 1: Sylvia Ounpuu (10 minutes): Case examples – within plane
Speaker 2 & 3: Kristan Pierz and Jennifer Rodriguez-MacClintic (30 minutes): Case examples – across plane interactions (participants will be encouraged to stand if able to assist in understanding concepts)
Questions and answers (10 minutes)