Journal: IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering : a publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
Article Title: Retraining Gastrocnemius Muscle Coordination Reduces Late-Stance Knee Contact Force in Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis
doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2026.3669842
Figure Lengend Snippet: Study overview. During the first session, 18 adults with knee osteoarthritis walked on a force-instrumented treadmill and began training to reduce their gastrocnemius activity, which was monitored through surface electromyography (EMG). Participants received vibrational haptic feedback after each step, with the number of vibrations corresponding to the change in gastrocnemius EMG from baseline. The objective was to receive no feedback by reducing gastrocnemius EMG below an adaptive goal. If participants achieved an average reduction of 10% from baseline over 50 consecutive steps within 5 feedback trials (30 minutes of training), they qualified for the second training session. Thirteen participants qualified and continued training to reduce their gastrocnemius EMG with the same feedback. Data from this session informed musculoskeletal models to estimate knee contact force.
Article Snippet: Participants then walked at a self-selected speed on a split-belt force-instrumented treadmill (Bertec Corporation, Columbus, OH, USA) until they felt comfortable walking on the treadmill (minimum 8 minutes).
Techniques: Activity Assay