Gait symmetry - A valid parameter for pre and post planning for total knee arthroplasty

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine whether GS can help to plan and rearrange the treated side by using IMUs to measure the joint angle of the hip, knee, and ankle. We hypothesized that the kinematics in healthy individuals for both sides are approximately equal during walking. METHODS: IMUs were used to measure the joint angles of 25 healthy participants during walking. The participants performed the 10-meter walk test. The normalized symmetry index (SI(norm)) was used to calculate the symmetry of joint angles for the hip, knee, and ankle throughout the gait cycle. RESULTS: The SI(norm) demonstrated high symmetry between both legs; and the ranges were -1.5% and 1.1% for the hip, -3.0% and 3.1% for the knee, and -12% and 9.2% for the ankle joint angle throughout the gait cycle. CONCLUSION: The SI(norm) provides strong information that can be helpful in the planning process for the surgeries. Further, the IMUs system gives the possibility to measure the patients before their surgeries and use their data to plan and rearrange for the operated side.