Functional electrical stimulation of gluteus medius reduces the medial joint reaction force of the knee during level walking

Background By altering muscular activation patterns, internal forces acting on the human body during dynamic activity may be manipulated. The magnitude of one of these forces, the medial knee joint reaction force (JRF), is associated with disease progression in patients with early osteoarthritis (OA), suggesting utility in its targeted reduction. Increased activation of gluteus medius has been suggested as a means to achieve this. Methods Motion capture equipment and force plate transducers were used to obtain kinematic and kinetic data for 15 healthy subjects during level walking, with and wi... Mehr ...