Beyond Diagnoses: Addressing Challenges in Podiatric Gait Analysis

The foot has a significant impact on the rest of the body. Its health and proper function are critical to correctly functioning the ankle, legs, hips, and back. While the foot's structure is small, it is mighty, and any healthcare provider or orthopedist will tell you that it is of paramount importance.

Unfortunately, while we understand that gait – the movement of the body from one step to the next – has a huge impact on health and performance, it’s no simple thing to perform a comprehensive, accurate gait analysis and draw the right conclusions. Indeed, analysis is riddled with challenges, and solving them is critical to giving and following up on the best gait analyses.

The following-up part matters hugely. We must move beyond diagnosis because while it's important to determine what's wrong, it's even more important to take action.

Let’s examine at why gait analysis systems are so important for patient health, footwear recommendations, and treatment plans.

Why Is Podiatric Gait Analysis So Important?

When patients come into the clinic, they are looking for answers. Why does their foot hurt? Why can’t they walk comfortably the way they used to? How can they get back to a better state of health, whether they have diabetes, a healed break in a bone, a joint condition, or limited performance on the field and in life?

Answering these questions is challenging for any podiatrist, orthopedist, doctor, or physical therapist. You must do so to:

• Identify any impairments in movement and biomechanics;
• Create a treatment plan;
• Prevent re-injury through overuse or incorrect movement; and
• Continually hone treatment for better outcomes.

While a wealth of knowledge certainly helps one get the job done, the foot is, at the end of the day, an opaque structure. Ditto the ankles, shins, knees, and on up. You simply can't look inside a person and say definitively what's going wrong. While X-rays and other imaging do exist, these are expensive options that patients can usually only afford once or twice. Insurance may balk at covering them, and they're often indeterminate in any case.

Plantar pressure measurement and gait analysis are a podiatrist's best bets for assessing the problem in real-time, determining proper treatment, and honing that treatment over time. Too bad gait analysis, while reliable as a concept, often goes wrong and muddies the waters further.

Challenges in Gait Analysis: What Goes Wrong?

Gait analysis tools provide actual measures of what is happening inside the body. It is hard to overstate the advanced precision it offers over a patient's report, a visual inspection, or imaging. Making the proper recommendations for treatment protocols and footwear depends on understanding the individual patient's biomechanics and issues.

Therefore, the patient will suffer when gait analysis is unreliable, unrepeatable, or invalid. This can occur for many reasons, including outdated technology, product design deficiencies, or unreliable equipment. Any one of these scenarios can lead to:

• An incorrect or incomplete diagnosis;
• Lack of healing or injury prevention;
• Improper education of the patient about their care;
• Improper footwear choices;
• Ineffective treatments that frustrate both patient and provider;
• Reduced word-of-mouth marketing; and
• A failing reputation for your practice.

To improve patient results and accurately predict treatment outcomes, you need a better system than standard walkway and stance pad technology.

Plantar Pressure Mapping to Achieve Gait Analysis Goals

All right, so how does a pressure mapping system help address these challenges? Simply put, it uses science and data to replace gut feelings and guesswork. By determining what exactly is happening between the foot and the ground, you can create treatment plans that are far more effective.

This will reduce rework, increase patient satisfaction, help with patient success, increase orthotic sales, and give your practice a better name.

And remember, you want to look beyond the initial diagnosis. You need to find out what's going wrong and how to fix it, then design ways to measure whether or not the therapies are working. That requires ongoing pressure mapping over time, using repeatable processes that don't require calibration or deep thought but integrate seamlessly into your workflow.

If you don't already know, XSENSOR's wireless Intelligent Insoles system does just that. Using in-shoe insoles that fit comfortably inside the patient's shoes, you can take readings of their movement in real-time. This enables you to build high-definition visual maps and access valuable data streams to determine where high-pressure areas are and how to fix them. All you have to do is:

1. Have the patient insert the insoles into their shoes, or do it for them;
2. Don the shoes;
3. Ask the patient to begin moving around;
4. Take readings using our patented, one-of-a-kind software and hardware systems;
5. Create incredibly intricate maps that show improper pressure distribution stance, gait, and foot function; and
6. Address these problems with a blend of physical therapy, footwear, inserts, and other treatments.

And there you have it.

The Intelligent Insoles Clinical Pressure Mapping and Gait Analysis System from XSENSOR

Gone are the days of visual gait analysis. Although an experienced orthopedist or trainer can certainly make educated guesses based on what they see in the clinic or on the field, the slow human eye cannot determine exactly where high-pressure and other problem areas occur, especially beneath the sole of the foot and the ground.

With XSENSOR's Intelligent Insoles, you can revolutionize your practice. Our advanced plantar pressure and gait measurement system provides clinicians with precise, real-time data on foot function, loading, and motion. These insoles not only diagnose issues but also validate treatment plans and monitor progress over time. The result? Enhanced patient outcomes and a bolstered reputation for your practice.

Curious to see our Intelligent Insoles in action? We invite you to experience a demo and discover the potential of our innovative system. Reach out to us today to schedule your demo.