Quantifying degree of foot use impairment in hemiplegic gait using center-of-pressure trajectory vector difference integrals

Gait impairment manifestations can vary greatly amongst hemiplegic patients, so it is difficult to derive a single parameter to summarize impairment severity. In a separate study we found that the variance-normalized integrated difference amongst center-of-pressure (COP) trajectories was positively correlated with gait impairment severity. The purpose of this study was to test whether this COP trajectory difference parameter could also differentiate involved from uninvolved limbs in hemiplegia.