Lower limb amputees exhibit increased foot placement variability during gait in part due to the lack of ankle musculature that reduces their ability to shift the prosthetic limb center of pressure (COP). In spite of compensating with a wider step width compared to non-amputees, amputees are still 20% more likely to fall compared to age-matched norms. Since mediolateral (ML) balance is critical for successful ambulation and contingent on accurate ML foot placement, we chose to study how an error in ML foot placement affects amputee balance to gain a better understanding of the biomechanic strategies amputees employ to compensate for their lack of ankle musculature.
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