Challenge #1:
A patient with spastic paraplegia is having difficulty ambulating, but doctors are not sure where the problem is being caused. Perform a gait analysis on the patient and determine the pathologic deviation of his gait from normal. Botox injections are administered to the patients' gastrocnemius muscles bilaterally. Perform a gait analysis on the patient after he received the injections and compare it with previous data. Did the botox injection work?

Background:
The patient is a 28 month old child having HMSN type V (Hereditary Motor Sensory Neuropathy). HMSN type V is an autosomal dominantly inherited disease that causes spastic paraplegia.

The patient's "before" video and gait analysis was taken two days before the botox injections and the "after" video was taken six days after the botox injection (on both the medial and lateral heads of the gastrocnemius muscles bilaterally).

The patient was analyzed using a video-based system with markers mounted on the body.

What is spastic paraplegia?
"Spasticity is a motor disorder characterized by a velocity-dependent increase in tonic stretch reflexes ('muscle tone') with exaggerated tendon jerks, resulting from hyperexcitability of the stretch reflex, as one component of the upper motor neuron syndrome" (Lance 1980). In spasticity, muscle tone is too high or muscles are too tight. Paraplegia is defined as affecting the lower body. Therefore a patient with spastic paraplegia has too tight muscles affecting their lower body.

What is a botox injection?
Botox (botulinum toxin type A) is a drug that is injected directly into a spastic muscle. The injection interferes with the nerve impluse sent to the muscle and acts as a muscle relaxant. Its effects are not permanent, the muscle is weakened for about twelve weeks.

You are given the MATLAB Data and corresponding video of the subject's locomotion.

Video Analysis Description
Procedure
Analysis & Questions
2D Sample Analysis
3D Sample Analysis