Theofano Eftaxiopoulou1, Warren Macdonald2, David Britzman2, Anthony M J Bull3. 1. Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ UK; The Royal British Legion Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ UK. Electronic address: theofano.eftaxiopoulou06@ic.ac.uk. 2. Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ UK. 3. Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ UK; The Royal British Legion Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ UK.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The aim of this work was to test a method for measuring the gait of rats with sufficient sensitivity to detect subtle locomotor changes due to pathology, injury and recovery. METHOD: The gait of female Sprague-Dawley rats was assessed using an optical motion tracking system and the DigiGait™ imaging system during normal locomotion, shortly after temporary nerve block to the left hind limb and after full recovery. RESULTS: The effect of low treadmill speeds (10-30 cm/s) was initially investigated. Significant changes were detected in the spatiotemporal gait parameters, consistent with those previously reported. The overall ranges of motion in the hip, knee and ankle joints were 37.5° (±7.1°), 50.2° (±9.4°) and 61.6° (±9.1°) and did not appear to change with speed, indicating that for low speed variations, kinematic comparisons across speeds may be possible. Following the induction of a temporary sciatic nerve block, the range of motion of the left ankle and knee during swing decreased by 23° and 33°, respectively (p<0.05). A compensatory change of a greater range of motion at the hip was noted in the contralateral limb (p<0.01). 90 min post injection, most of the gait parameters had returned to normal, however, minor walking deficits were still present. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): Discriminant analysis showed that a combination of dynamic and kinematic parameters provides a more robust method for the classification of gait changes. CONCLUSIONS: This more detailed method, employing both dynamic analysis and joint kinematics simultaneously, was found to be a reliable approach for the quantification of gait in rats.
BACKGROUND: The aim of this work was to test a method for measuring the gait of rats with sufficient sensitivity to detect subtle locomotor changes due to pathology, injury and recovery. METHOD: The gait of female Sprague-Dawley rats was assessed using an optical motion tracking system and the DigiGait™ imaging system during normal locomotion, shortly after temporary nerve block to the left hind limb and after full recovery. RESULTS: The effect of low treadmill speeds (10-30 cm/s) was initially investigated. Significant changes were detected in the spatiotemporal gait parameters, consistent with those previously reported. The overall ranges of motion in the hip, knee and ankle joints were 37.5° (±7.1°), 50.2° (±9.4°) and 61.6° (±9.1°) and did not appear to change with speed, indicating that for low speed variations, kinematic comparisons across speeds may be possible. Following the induction of a temporary sciatic nerve block, the range of motion of the left ankle and knee during swing decreased by 23° and 33°, respectively (p<0.05). A compensatory change of a greater range of motion at the hip was noted in the contralateral limb (p<0.01). 90 min post injection, most of the gait parameters had returned to normal, however, minor walking deficits were still present. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): Discriminant analysis showed that a combination of dynamic and kinematic parameters provides a more robust method for the classification of gait changes. CONCLUSIONS: This more detailed method, employing both dynamic analysis and joint kinematics simultaneously, was found to be a reliable approach for the quantification of gait in rats.
Authors: Gustavo A Orozco; Kalle Karjalainen; Eng Kuan Moo; Lauri Stenroth; Petri Tanska; Jaqueline Lourdes Rios; Teemu V Tuomainen; Mikko J Nissi; Hanna Isaksson; Walter Herzog; Rami K Korhonen Journal: PLoS Comput Biol Date: 2022-06-03 Impact factor: 4.779
Authors: Michael R Davies; Gurbani Kaur; Xuhui Liu; Francisco Gomez Alvarado; Prashant Nuthalapati; Mengyao Liu; Agustin Diaz; Jeffrey C Lotz; Jeannie F Bailey; Brian T Feeley Journal: N Am Spine Soc J Date: 2021-04-20
Authors: Luca Peruzzotti-Jametti; Joshua D Bernstock; Nunzio Vicario; Ana S H Costa; Chee Keong Kwok; Tommaso Leonardi; Lee M Booty; Iacopo Bicci; Beatrice Balzarotti; Giulio Volpe; Giulia Mallucci; Giulia Manferrari; Matteo Donegà; Nunzio Iraci; Alice Braga; John M Hallenbeck; Michael P Murphy; Frank Edenhofer; Christian Frezza; Stefano Pluchino Journal: Cell Stem Cell Date: 2018-02-22 Impact factor: 24.633