Abstract
This paper proposes a novel sensory assessment for the alignment of tibial prosthesis. In clinical adjustment of the alignment, patient’s sensory assessment of the loading position in sole is usually used as well as the evaluation of orthotist and prosthetist. In order to facilitate the afore-mentioned sensory assessment, we developed an assessment sheet in which patients can easily make a record of the loading position in sole in the standing position. In order to validate its clinical efficacy, we studied how the change of inset and outset alignment of the prosthesis affects the record in the assessment sheet and dominant biomechanical parameters of the lower limb. Experiments using 5 patients revealed that an appropriate alignment of the prosthesis tended to make recorded subjective loading position in sole closed to the line segment connecting the heal and toe, while an inset or outset malalignment tended to make it deviate significantly from the line segment in the lateral or medial direction, respectively (p < 0.01). The deviation was more conspicuous when standing foot position was determined by each patient’s inherent breadth of the heels, than as the breadth determined by stamping. Biomechanical parameters statistically correlated to the deviation were merely the lateral component of the floor reaction force. All these results suggested that the assessment sheet of the loading position in sole could be effective for evaluating inset and outset alignment of the prosthesis.
