Gait analysis is the study of the manner of walking. It is used worldwide to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of ambulatory problems, including Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophy, and nerve injury. It is increasing being recognized as a useful preclinical assay to better understand how animal models may reflect the human condition, and to generate quantitative metrics of normal and abnormal gait.
Gait can be assessed in subjects walking voluntarily or on a treadmill. As in human life, however, when subjects walk voluntarily, the assessment of gait can be difficult depending on the subject’s speed.
Digital Paw Prints
DigiGait is a plane videography instrumentation available for gait analysis in laboratory animals. Voluntary and treadmill walking, DigiGait performs gait analysis of mice and rats over a range of walking and running speeds.
Ventral Plane Imaging (VPI) Technology continuously images the underside of the animals walking atop of the patented motorized transparent treadmill belt, generating “digital paw prints” and dynamic gait signals. These dynamic gait signals, generated for each of the 4 limbs, describe the posture and kinematics of the animals that reflect strength, balance, and coordination. Animals can also be challenged to walk up an incline or down a decline to maximize the details about the subjects’ motor abilities.
