A study sought to measure the effects of the biodesigns High-Fidelity (HiFi) Interface transfemoral socket system on gait and perceived disability compared with a traditional socket design. According to the researchers, use of the HiFi system resulted in an increase in the subject’s self-selected gait velocity, prosthetic hip adduction, and hip extension. Reductions in lateral center of mass deviation during gait and in perceived disability were also attributed to the HiFi system.
The elderly subject who participated in the study was first tested while using a traditional ischial containment socket, then fit with the HiFi system and tested again after a 30-day accommodation period. Motion analysis was performed using a 3D, eight-camera Vicon Motion Capture system. The Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire v2.0 and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index were administered at initial and secondary testing to evaluate perceived disability. A one-way analysis of variance and Fischer’s least significant difference were used to determine the statistical difference between conditions.
The HiFi Interface system presented some biomechanical advantages to traditional ischial ramus containment socket designs in this case, according to the study’s authors, which may allow for increased stability in patients using a transfemoral prosthesis.
The study was published in the July issue of the Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics.
