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Department of Paediatric Rehabilitation
Queensland Children's Gait Laboratory
Introduction
The Queensland Children’s Gait Laboratory (QCGL) was established in March 2000 and officially opened in October that year. Funding for the service is provided by Queensland Health following long-term lobbying by health professionals who had seen the benefit of gait laboratories overseas. It is the second (of 2) Paediatric Gait Laboratories in Australia; the first one was established in Victoria in 1995.
The QCGL provides a state of the art, quantitative, high-technology assessment of gait (walking) and energy expenditure to referring medical specialists. Patient groups include children with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, traumatic and other acquired brain injury, spinal cord injury or disease, amputations and limb deficiency, and some other complex low incidence conditions.
Service
The Queensland Children’s Gait Laboratory provides the following 3 services
1. 3-Dimensional Gait Analysis (3DGA) which comprises (2-3 hrs)
Physiotherapy assessment measures bony alignment, joint range, strength and tone
3-dimensional kinematic and kinetic analysis measures joint motions,
moments and calculates joint power during walking
Electromyography measures which muscles are active and their timing during gait
Split screen video (video recorded from the front and side simultaneously)
2. Detailed musculoskeletal and split screen video analysis (1½ hrs)
Physiotherapy assessment
Split screen video (video recorded from the front and side simultaneously)
3. Energy Expenditure Analysis (can be combined with 3DGA) (40-60 mins)
COSMED measures the energy expenditure during walking or other activity and can be repeated to determine the effects over time or from medical interventions such as surgery or Intrathecal Baclofen.
4. Pedobaragraph (40-60 mins)
Foot pressure assessments in standing or walking
Service is provided to children from Queensland and northern New South Wales with walking disabilities for whom an intervention is planned, baseline gait data is needed, or to measure the effectiveness of an intervention.
Within approximately 8 weeks, reports are generated that include detailed analyses and recommendations are made relating to the clinical question posed by the referring specialist.
Referrals to the Gait Laboratory commonly ask clinical questions concerning
Reports are sent to the referring clinician with a copy to the family. It is expected that the family will discuss the report with their referring clinician.
Referral
Referrals to the laboratory are accepted from medical specialists including
Referrals should include a diagnosis, background information, a clinical question, the required assessment (please see service list above) and any time limitations in order to be processed efficiently. If unsure of the service required or the requirements of children to complete an assessment please call or e-mail a member of staff.
Adult patients may be accepted by arrangement.
Projects
The QCGL uses data from typically developing children as a basis for comparing assessments against a normal range. The normal range is generated from a project sponsored by the RCH foundation that allows us to assess the gait of typically developing children.
On-line training modules are developed for use by clinicians around Queensland and even internationally. These modules provide clinically useful information about gait, in specified diagnoses, and also assists with understanding the detailed reports generated by gait laboratories like QCGL.
Upper limb tasks are more difficult to measure in a laboratory than walking but progress is continuing towards good quantitative measurement using the motion analysis system used for measuring walking.
Contact information
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 8.00 am – 4.30 pm.
Phone: 07 3636 1713
Fax: 07 3636 5464
Email: Gait-Lab-Appointments@health.qld.gov.au
Address: Level 2, Coles Health Services Building, Royal Children's Hospital
Key staff
Dr Robyn Grote, Director QCGL
Michael deLacy, Physiotherapist
Julie Edwards, Physiotherapist
Michelle Lemcke, Physiotherapist
Teresa Phillips, Rehabilitation Engineer
Michelle McGrath, Rehabilitation Engineer
Dr John Walsh, Orthopaedic Surgeon
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