Children and adults with difficulty walking can find high-tech help in two Delaware gait analysis labs developed by biomechanics researchers in the College of Health and Nursing Sciences.

In both labs, electronic markers and sensors are placed at strategic spots on a patient's arms and legs. Video cameras positioned around the lab pick up the movements of the sensors and provide a computerized analysis of the patient's gait. In addition to the sensors, metal plates inset in the floor of the lab measure the force with which the patient's foot hits the ground, and a plastic liner in the shoe senses the precise pressure being exerted on hundreds of points on the sole of the foot.

All this data is analyzed to help medical professionals decide such courses of action as the type of therapy or surgery a child with cerebral palsy might need or whether an adult with orthopedic problems could benefit from a certain type of brace or prosthetic device.

Children are assessed in the gait lab at the Alfred I. du Pont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., which opened in the early 1990s. Jim Richards, Distinguished Professor of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences at UD and director of the biomechanics lab, helped establish that pediatric gait lab in conjunction with the hospital.

Recently, Richards has overseen the creation of an adult gait lab on campus. Patients are referred to the adult facility by doctors in the community and by the Du Pont Hospital, which can work with patients only until they reach age 18.

The new lab also serves as an educational resource for University students in biomechanics.

"We're so excited about the fact that our students are able to go to the Du Pont Hospital for Children and see gait analysis applied to pediatrics and then come here to see the adult application," Dave Hudson, instructor in health, nutrition and exercise sciences who heads the lab, says. "Between the two labs, they get an excellent overview of what's possible."

The adult gait lab is located next to the Sports Science Center in the Rust Ice Arena on campus. The center uses similar kinds of technology to work with athletes and sports equipment manufacturers on such projects as analyzing the causes of pitching injuries or studying the properties of golf clubs and tennis rackets.