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1st Joint ESMAC-GCMAS Meeting - Análise de Marcha

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O-44<br />

DYNAMIC MEASUREMENT OF GASTROCNEMIUS TENDON AND BELLY<br />

LENGTH DURING HEEL-TOE AND TOE-WALKING IN NORMALLY<br />

DEVELOPING CHILDREN AND ADULTS<br />

Fry NR MEng 1 , Perrot M BSc 2 , Morrissey M PhD 2 , Shortland AP PhD 1<br />

1 One Small Step Gait Laboratory, Guy’s Hospital, London, UK<br />

2 Department Of Physiotherapy, King’s College, London, UK<br />

Summary/ Conclusions<br />

During heel-toe walking (HTW) normally-<strong>de</strong>veloping (ND) adults and children use isometric<br />

contraction of the gastrocnemius muscle belly (GB) to store elastic potential energy in the<br />

external gastrocnemius tendon (GT) which is returned during pre-swing. In toe walking (TW)<br />

adults have periods of eccentric muscle contraction which is potentially harmful to the muscle.<br />

Children, probably due to the higher compliance of their tendons, maintain isometric<br />

contraction of the GB throughout TW.<br />

Introduction<br />

Recently the contributions of the GB length to the motion of the knee and ankle has been<br />

elaborated during slow walking on a treadmill 1 . Results suggest that the GB contracts<br />

isometrically or concentrically during the stance phase of gait and that changes in the length of<br />

the GT play a significant role in the total excursion of the musculo-tendinous unit (MTU). Here<br />

we use a similar technique to estimate the GB and GT length changes in free walking in adults<br />

and children adopting HTW and TW styles.<br />

Statement of clinical significance<br />

Excursion of the GT in HTW and TW protects the GB from damaging eccentric action during<br />

the loa<strong>de</strong>d phases of gait, contributes to power generation at the ankle in pre-swing and reduces<br />

the motor control bur<strong>de</strong>n on the central nervous system. Despite the difference in tendon<br />

compliance between adults and children the contributions of the GB and GT to MTU length are<br />

similar.<br />

Methods<br />

ND adults (n=6, mean age:32 , range:22-53 years) and<br />

children (n=6, mean age:10 , range:7-12 years) were<br />

recruited to the study. The Helen Hayes marker set was<br />

applied to each subject and a 2D B-mo<strong>de</strong> ultrasound<br />

probe was strapped firmly to the shank so that the<br />

gastrocnemius musculo-tendinous junction could be<br />

clearly seen in the image (see Figure 1). 4 reflective<br />

markers were attached to the probe to enable its<br />

position to be tracked in space. Each subject was asked<br />

to walk at a self selected speed with simultaneous collection of motion tracking data and movie<br />

data from the ultrasound machine. Trials were collected for each subject for HTW and TW. GT<br />

length was calculated as the distance between the musculotendinous junction and the heel<br />

marker. MTU length was calculated from the knee and ankle joint angles using the mo<strong>de</strong>l<br />

<strong>de</strong>scribed by Eames et al. 2 . GB length was calculated as the MTU length – GT length. Lengths<br />

were normalised to leg length and normalised length changes were plotted.<br />

- 156 -<br />

Musculotendinou<br />

s junction<br />

Figure 1: Ultrasound image of<br />

musculotendinous junction

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