Quantification of soft tissue artifact in lower limb human motion analysis: A systematic review

Peters, Alana; Galna, Brook; Sangeux, Morgan; Morris, Meg; Baker, Richard

doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2009.09.004

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Volume 31, Issue 1 , Pages 1-8, January 2010

Quantification of soft tissue artifact in lower limb human motion analysis: A systematic review

Alana Peters
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Hugh Williamson Gait Laboratory Level 3, Main Building, Royal Children's Hospital Flemington Rd, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
- School of Physiotherapy, The University of Melbourne 202 Berkely St, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
- Corresponding author at: Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Hugh Williamson Gait Laboratory Level 3, Main Building, Royal Children's Hospital Flemington Rd, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia. Tel.: +61 3 9345 5354.
Brook Galna
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Hugh Williamson Gait Laboratory Level 3, Main Building, Royal Children's Hospital Flemington Rd, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
- School of Physiotherapy, The University of Melbourne 202 Berkely St, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
- Clinical Research Centre for Movement Disorders and Gait Kingston Aged Care and Rehabilitation Centre Australia 3192, Australia
Morgan Sangeux
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Hugh Williamson Gait Laboratory Level 3, Main Building, Royal Children's Hospital Flemington Rd, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
Meg Morris
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Hugh Williamson Gait Laboratory Level 3, Main Building, Royal Children's Hospital Flemington Rd, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
- School of Physiotherapy, The University of Melbourne 202 Berkely St, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
Richard Baker
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Hugh Williamson Gait Laboratory Level 3, Main Building, Royal Children's Hospital Flemington Rd, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
- School of Physiotherapy, The University of Melbourne 202 Berkely St, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia

Received 5 December 2008; received in revised form 28 August 2009; accepted 12 September 2009. published online 26 October 2009.

Abstract

This systematic review critically evaluates the quantification of soft tissue artifact (STA) in lower limb human motion analysis. It has a specific focus on assessing the quality of previous studies and comparing quantitative results. A specific search strategy identified 20 published articles or abstracts that fulfilled the selection criteria. The quality of the articles was evaluated using a customised critical appraisal tool. Data extraction tools were used to identify key aspects reported in the articles. Most studies had small sample sizes of mostly young, slim participants. Eleven of the reviewed articles used physically invasive techniques to assess STA. STA was found to reach magnitudes of greater than 30mm on the thigh segment, and up to 15mm on the tibia. The range of soft tissue artifact reached greater than 25mm in some cases when comparing the results of reviewed studies.