Static Posturography: A New Perspective in the Assessment of Lameness in a Canine Model.

Maria E Manera,José M Vilar,Joaquin Sopena,Angelo Santana,Monica Rubio,Miguel Batista,José M Carrillo,Steven Allen Gard

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170692

Maria E Manera, José M Vilar + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170692

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the static posturography in dogs as a useful tool for diagnosis of lameness by means of the use of a pressure platform. For this purpose, a series of different parameters (pressure distribution, area of support, mean pressure, maximum pressure and statokinesiograms) were obtained from five lame dogs with unilateral elbow osteoarthritis treated with plasma rich in growth factors. Data were obtained before and 3 months after treatment, and results were compared with a control group of sound dogs of similar conformation. Significant differences were found in the above mentioned parameters between sound and lame limbs. Improvement after 3 months of treatment was also detected, demonstrating that this multi-parametric technique is an effective and reliable method for the assessment of lameness in dogs.

Highlights

Peak vertical force (PVF) and vertical impulse (VI) are two of the most common kinetic parameters used for lameness detection in dogs, horses and other domestic animal species [1]; these parameters are usually obtained using force [2] or pressure platforms [3,4,5]
Previous studies describe distribution of force in the pads during the support phase in healthy dogs [6,7] or in dogs with pathologies such as cranial cruciate ligament rupture [8] or hip fractures [9]; the dogs walk or trot across a simple or multiple pressure walkway that provides standard parameters as PVF and VI, usually measured by force platforms. The advantage of this method is that consecutive steps can be recorded; research has still not been published on static analysis in lame dogs with postural changes, such as spatial modifications in body center of pressure (COP) and the PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone
The control of body posture is assumed as a constant action of stabilization of a multilink inverted pendulum [11,12], which corresponds with the attempt of to keep the center of mass (COM) symmetrically to the support base [13]

Summary

Introduction

Peak vertical force (PVF) and vertical impulse (VI) are two of the most common kinetic parameters used for lameness detection in dogs, horses and other domestic animal species [1]; these parameters are usually obtained using force [2] or pressure platforms [3,4,5].Pressure platforms, with their multiple sensors, have the potential to provide more information than force platforms; references describing the use of pressure platforms remain scarce, and the majority of these studies are descriptive. Previous studies describe distribution of force in the pads during the support phase in healthy dogs [6,7] or in dogs with pathologies such as cranial cruciate ligament rupture [8] or hip fractures [9]; the dogs walk or trot across a simple or multiple pressure walkway that provides standard parameters as PVF and VI, usually measured by force platforms The advantage of this method is that consecutive steps can be recorded; research has still not been published on static analysis in lame dogs with postural changes, such as spatial modifications in body center of pressure (COP) and the PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0170692. Static posturography becomes an objective evaluation method of the balance system, and it is widely used in human medicine [14], rehabilitation [15] or sport fields [16]

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