Validation of a Kinematic Protocol for the Determination of Gait Events During Overground and Treadmill Running

Introduction The accurate division of the gait cycle into its component stance and swing phases is important in gait analysis. Use of force platforms to indicate when the foot is in contact with the ground is the 'gold standard' method of determining foot strike (FS) and toe off (TO). However force platforms may not be available, particularly during treadmill locomotion. Methods of determining these gait events using additional instrumentation (e.g. foot switches [1]) exist, but further encumber the subject and may be limited by the number of analogue channels available. A method of identifying FS and TO from standard kinematic data alone, without additional instrumentation or markers, has been devised and validated for overground walking [2]. The aim of this study was to extend this technique to overground and treadmill running.