Gait Analysis Technologies for Measurement of Biomechanical Parameters of Knee Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a progressive degenerative joint disease. This degenerative process leads to an alteration in the gait mechanics. There are varieties of methods that can be used to evaluate these gait differences. The purpose of this review is to critically analyze the research findings and to outline strategies for evaluating gait anomalies in KOA, including observational, vision-based, and sensor-based and hybrid gait assessment technologies. The gait analysis, carried out by these methods, enables the implementation of procedures suited to patients’ particular need is discussed. In all indices, the advantages and drawbacks of the available tools will be addressed after a concise description of the methods and the implementations in the KOA patients. The quantitative methods, categorized as vision, sensor-based, and hybrid technologies, have features that make them powerful and competitive for various types of requirements. Among these technologies, hybrid technology seems to be the most reliable and accurate because it can assess all aspects of gait assessment. Future studies should be done to develop a KOA gait dataset available publicly, consider all severity levels and all compartment KOA.