Foot deformities in children with cerebral palsy

Summary This project will explore methods for analysing foot function from 3D motion analysis and plantar pressure data, and their relation to structural measures from radiology and physical examination. These methods will be used to compare foot structure and function pre- and post-surgery and will ultimately serve as an objective clinical measure for assessing and grading foot deformities in children.

Project Details

Foot and ankle deformities are common in children with cerebral palsy and can cause pain as well as have a severe impact on a child's walking. To improve function and reduce pain, these children may undergo surgical correction. Structural deformities of the foot are assessed pre- and post-operatively using radiology. We evaluate foot function and structure pre and post-surgery using a range of measures; radiology, 3D motion capture, plantar pressure and physical examination.

This project will explore methods for analysing foot function from 3D motion analysis and plantar pressure data, and their relation to structural measures from radiology and physical examination. These methods will be used to compare foot structure and function pre- and post-surgery and will ultimately serve as an objective clinical measure for assessing and grading foot deformities in children.

This project can be tailored to the interests of the successful applicant. Areas that may be explored are machine learning approaches for image analysis of plantar pressure data, musculoskeletal modelling and relationship between clinical measures and 3D motion analysis of the foot. The successful candidate will require some programming experience.

This project is a collaboration between the Hugh Williamson Gait Analysis Laboratory Royal Children's Hospital and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (https://www.rch.org.au/gait/, https://www.mcri.edu.au/research/themes/clinical-sciences/gait-lab-orthopaedics ).

The project will be supervised by Dr Elyse Passmore, Biomedical Engineer and A/Prof Erich Rutz, Orthopaedic Surgeon.