Affiliations: Laboratoire de recherche en imagerie et orthopédie, Centre de recherche, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, 1650 rue Sherbrooke est, Montréal, PQ, Canada, H2L 4M1 | École de technologie supérieure, 1100 rue Notre-Dame ouest, Montréal, PQ, Canada, H3C 1K3 | Université de Montréal, 2900, boul. Édouard-Montpetit, Montréal, PQ, Canada, H3T 1J4 | Institut de réadaptation de Montréal, 6300, avenue Darlington, Montréal, PQ, Canada, H3S 2J4
Note: [] Corresponding author: Maxime Van de Putte, Laboratoire de recherche en imagerie et orthopédie, Centre de recherche CHUM-Hôpital, Notre-Dame, Pavillon J.A. de Sève, 1st floor, Room Y-1614, 1650 rue Sherbrooke est, Montréal, PQ, Canada H2L 4M1. Tel.: +1 514 890 8000 (ext. 28722); Fax: +1 514 412 7785; E-mail: maxime.vandeputte@etsmtl.ca.
Abstract: The use of a treadmill to evaluate gait patterns makes it possible to analyze many gait cycles and stride to stride variations. The objective of this study was to assess the time required for a subject to habituate to walking on a treadmill. The evolution of knee kinematics and spatio-temporal parameters were analyzed to measure habituation to walking on the treadmill. To obtain this information, data were recorded on 10 healthy subjects for about 45 minutes as they walked on a treadmill. A steady state was attained for knee kinematics and most spatio-temporal parameters at the time the treadmill had attained its maximal speed (approximately 30 seconds). However, 10 minutes were necessary for stride length to become reproducible. Time for habituation to walking on a treadmill must be considered when kinematics are evaluated during gait of healthy and disabled subjects. We have shown that, at least for young, healthy individuals who are non-naïve to walking on a treadmill, a 10-minute warm-up is enough before three-dimensional knee kinematics and spatio-temporal data can be recorded.
