A research team set out to determine if skin strain during gait is related to patient-reported comfort and function among people with transfemoral amputations and concluded that greater skin shear in the proximal region of the socket is related to decreased prosthetic use.
Dynamic biplane radiography (DBR) combined with conventional motion capture was used to measure skin deformation within the socket during treadmill walking for ten people with unilateral transfemoral amputations. The questionnaire for persons with a transfemoral amputation (Q-TFA) was administered to assess prosthetic use, mobility, health problems, and global health.
Q-TFA Prosthetic Use score and Problem score were negatively correlated with the peak shear strains in the proximal and distal regions of the residuum, respectively. Maximum shear strain increased progressively from proximal to distal regions of the residual limb.
The study, “Residual limb shear strain during gait is correlated with patient reported outcomes for persons with transfemoral amputation,” was published in the Journal of Biomechanics.
