Minimum toe clearance adaptations to floor surface irregularity and gait speed.

ABSTRACT: Toe speed during gait generally nears its maximum while its height reaches a local minima approximately halfway through swing phase. Trips are thought to frequently occur at these local minima (minimum toe clearance or MTC events) and trip risk has been quantified using the minimum distance between the toe and ground here (MTC). This study investigated MTC on floor surfaces with and without multiple small obstacles. After shoes and floor surfaces were digitized, 14 unimpaired subjects (half women) each traversed a 4.88 m walkway 4 times at slow, preferred, and fast speeds across surfaces with no obstacles, visible obstacles, and hidden obstacles. Both surfaces with obstacles had the same random obstacle configuration. Shoe and body segment motions were tracked using passive markers and MTC

SUBMITTER: Schulz BW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5375113 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature