Biomechanics of Movement

THE PROJECT

The study of the movement of the different joints during gait (kinetics) and the power generated by joints (kinematics) during each step of the walk, called Gait Analysis, allowed to perform specific corrective paths and actions for each patient.

The aim of these interventions is to obtain an improvement in the driving force produced by the child at every step. The research also allowed to make an objective assessment and measure the efficiency of surgical and rehabilitative treatment.

In the past surgery merely corrected the most apparent flaws, such as improving the flexion of the knee with flexors lengthening. Now thanks to the kinetics and kinematics gait analysis, it is possible to correct the main defects and the compensations associated with them (such as foot deformities that don’t allow the complete extension of the knee).

The integration of the basic sciences and the study of the molecular behavior of the tendons with the quantitative analysis of the defect of each patient during gait, allowed us to optimize not only the choice and the type of surgery but also its exact timing.

At Humanitas Research Hospital, thanks to the research funds sponsored by Fondazione Ariel, a very sophisticated laboratory was established 7 years ago.

Its aim is to perform the biomechanical study of reciprocal movements of the various segments of the foot during walking.

This allowed to establish the extent of the pathology of the feet compared to normal and to study the results of the various corrective surgeries. It also made it possible to almost completely replace the radiographic assessment with the kinetic and kinematic one.

Read abstract: The effects of femoral derotation osteotomy in cerebral palsy: a kinematic and kinetic study.

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Prof Nicola Portinaro

Il Professor Portinaro è un chirurgo ortopedico pediatrico tra i massimi esperti, in particolare, per la cura di problemi ortopedici di anche, piedi, ginocchia e per tutte le patologie neuro ortopediche. È Senior Consultant di Ortopedia e Neuro-Ortopedia pediatrica presso la FONDAZIONE IRCCS CA’ GRANDA OSPEDALE MAGGIORE POLICLINICO e presso l’Humanitas Research Hospital. È inoltre e professore di Ortopedia e Traumatologia presso la Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia dell’Università degli Studi di Milano.