Podiatry

Quintic Automatic Gait Report – The High-Speed Video Gait Analysis System for the Podiatrist…

Quintic is a high-speed video based system that can be easily adapted for the podiatrist and due to its portability could be moved between clinics or even taken onto the sports field. For a private practitioner, Quintic is a simple to use video system that provides instant images in a clinical situation. A feature of the Quintic system is that once a video clip has been saved it can be downloaded onto a laptop, and run side by side with another video clip, synchronizing them together so that differences can be noted. Event markers can be saved, for example heel strike, toe off allowing the timing function to calculate differences in stride frequency. Angles can be measured from the horizontal or the perpendicular along with vertical and horizontal alignment guides. Taking this a step further,the Quintic system can also calculate speeds and accelerations of anatomical points of the body automatically. The ability to load the results into the Quintic Automatic Gait Report enables detailed results of human movement to be quantified like never before…

In the same way knee flexion and ankle joint dorsiflexion etc can be measured from a sagittal view. The system is proving invaluable in patient education; never before have my patients truly understood what an orthosis can do. I can now play back clips of before and after treatment so that they can see the resultant reduction in frontal plane motion of the foot or a slowing of knee rotation.The use of the system in paediatrics has proved particularly beneficial: Parents are impressed to see the developmental changes between six monthly visits. It is very much more convincing to see the difference between the two images and measure them on screen than to try and explain that the genu valgum has reduced by 2cm! The child that won’t co-operate or sit still can be filmed during their consultation and pertinent measurements can be taken in stance. It is also useful to record such features as internal and external rotation for future visual comparison.

A new feature of Quintic software was to observe in a clinical setting the subtalar joint aixis, by using a 4 point calculation which measures the moving angle between two lines. In the case of the subtalar joint, the bisection of the calcaneum and of the tibia. The difficulty in this observation is the changing angle between the bisection and the camera, in comparison with a sagittal plane analyzing video (sagittal knee or ankle flexion-extension).

The new subtalar analysis function which is available with Quintic Biomechanics video analysis software allows the clinician to accurately and quickly identify and  diagnose subtalar joint problems, while also enabling detailed observation and control of an intervention/treatment in an objective way. With many anatomical joints not having a fixed axis of rotation, Quintic’s new angular analysis method is a more accurate method of analysing body motion and is more accurate than fixing an artificial axis of rotation.

For more information, please view the case study by clicking here: Subtalar Joint Movement / Quintic Automatic Gait Report

“Having recently upgraded my system to the latest version of the Quintic software and installing three fixed high-speed cameras around my treadmill, gait analysis can now be performed simply and quickly by playing back the three views instantly and simultaneously. Quintic is an excellent tool for patient education enabling them to understand the concepts of their orthotic treatment. The use of reflective markers allows automatic tracking of key anatomical landmarks, providing data that further helps to fine tune prescriptions.

In my practice I find Quintic invaluable in the management of children to catalogue changes in gait as a result of growth and development. The system comes into its own with the ability for the practitioner to view the effect of different types of running shoe and orthotics, as well as demonstrating to patients the benefits and disadvantages of different types of footwear.

Quite simply Quintic is a cost effective and efficient piece of equipment essential to the clinician who wants an impressive and successful MSK biomechanical practice.“

Richard Callaghan: R M Callaghan & Associates Ltd.