Gait analysis: technical notes: Research Article

Abstract

Biomedical technologies are having an increasingly central role in the modern medicine. In fact they are at the root
of the diagnosis and follow up of pathologies giving to the clinicians quantitative outcomes necessary on the choice of
the right therapy. In this paper we will focus on biomedical technologies used in the context of gait analysis describing the main ones used in the clinical practice about pathologies of neurologic, orthopedic and rheumatic interest
and underlining their importance in the clinical setting. The main systems for gait analysis will be presented in this
article: system with passive markers, stereophotogrammetric system, force and pressure platforms, surface electromyography system, system based on inertial measurement units underling the importance of each in investigating
a different aspect of movement and how integrating all of them we can have a depth and whole gait analysis. The
main gait analysis protocols will be presented too. Finally, advantages and disadvantages about gait analysis will
be analyzed. In conclusion, the complexity of the described biomedical technologies for gait analysis underlines the
importance of the presence of an expert technician that can help the clinician to interpret and to process acquired
signals during the gait analysis.