Kinematics (ROM) in Gait

• • need to know about hip (extension and flexion), knee (extension and flexion) and ankle (dorsiflexion and plantarflexion) in sagittal plane
• Hip kinematics:

  • from initial heel contact to heel contact
  • x axis = 1 gait cycle
  • y axis = range of motion
• Hip kinematics summary:

  • hip goes through a phase of extension in stance phase and a phase of flexion in swing phase

  
• Hip kinematics:

  • from initial heel contact to heel contact
  • stance phase:
  • hip starts in about 27 degrees of flexion
  • extends throughout whole of stance phase, until 20 degrees of extension
  • starts to flex again just before swing phase
  • flexes through whole of swing phase back to around 27 degrees

  
• Knee kinematics:

  • 0 = straight knee, so below 0 would indicate hyperextension
  • from heel contact, knee is at around 0 degrees (straight)
  • during stance phase the knee flexes initially (around 15 degrees), then past mid stance the knee extends to 0 degrees
  • towards the end of stance phase the knee starts to flex again
  • it carries on flexing through swing phase until around 45 degrees, until it extends again near the end of swing phase to 0 degrees

  
• Knee kinematics summary:

  • during 1 gait cycle there are 2 phases of flexion at the knee, one small at the beginning of stance phase, one large one during swing phase

  
• Ankle kinematics:

  • 0 degrees indicates a 90 degree angle/flat foot
  • initial heel contact we start at 0 degrees
  • then as the foot goes flat, we plantarflex at around 5 degrees
  • once the foot is flat and the upper body progress forward over the foot during stance phase, the ankle starts going into dorsiflexion until around 5 degrees
  • towards end of stance phase, large amount of (25 degrees) plantarflexion occurs at a point called push off
  • then we lift our toes up in swing phase so we rapidly dorsiflex up to around 5 degrees
  • at the end we plantarflex to flatten our foot at a 90 degree angle