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PurposeTraditionally, the measurement of the maximal mouth opening was regarded as the mobility of the temporomandibular joint. The information, however, was not reliable. Sonography was often used to diagnose disc displacement in the temporomandibular joint and its validity was well established. The tool was also appropriate for measuring the outcome of temporomandibular disorders management. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine completely the reliability and error for evaluating the mobility of the mandibular condyle by sonography. In addition, the existing methods were modified to improve the repeatability.Patients and methodsThe reliability examinations included between-image and within-image explorations to represent the reliabilities of the image capturing and the mobility measuring, respectively. Sixty-two subjects were recruited to receive ultrasonic examination for condylar mobility. The images of the condyle in mouth closing and opening were captured and the horizontal displacement of the condyles was measured as the anterior translation of the condyle. To confirm that the probe did not move during mouth opening, a marker was placed between the skin and the ultrasonic probe as the landmark.ResultsThe results demonstrated that the intrarater and interrater reliabilities in the within-image test were 0.986 and 0.970 and the reliabilities in the between-image test were 0.904 and 0.857, respectively. The standard errors of measurement in the within-image and between-image tests were 0.04 cm and 0.09 cm, respectively.ConclusionSonography is a reliable tool to assess condylar mobility and can be used to measure the treatment outcome for temporomandibular disorders.

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Upon encountering a wet or contaminated floor, people often modify their gait and posture to prevent themselves from slipping. This study was conducted to investigate the modification of gait patterns in healthy young adults as they approached and stepped on a slippery floor. Ten females and twelve males were instructed to walk at two different pacer speeds, 90 and 120steps/min, guided by a metronome, on a walkway with two forceplates placed at the center. During the step immediately prior to stepping on a forceplate with or without slippery disturbance, temporo-spatial parameters, selected kinematic parameters, and foot-floor reaction forces were evaluated in each cadence. The results showed that modifications of gait patterns for slip perturbation included shorter step length, increases of flexion angles of hip and knee joints, increases of plantarflexion angles of ankle joint with flattened foot, and decreases of the forward and backward ground reaction forces. However, it was found that such modifications for slip perturbation did not seem to efficiently prevent people from falling.

The passive extensibility of skeletal muscles is an important health-related component of physical fitness. Tight gastrocnemius is a common orthopedic problem and frequently leads to overuse injuries of the lower extremity. Moreover, gastrocnemius tightness is commonly associated with lower back pain. Previous studies have reported that tight gastrocnemius results in kinematic and kinetic deviations of the ankle and knee during gait and a greater hip flexion at the moment of maximal ankle dorsiflexion. Accordingly, this study performs an experimental investigation into the effects of tight gastrocnemius on the hip and pelvic movements in gait. Sixteen subjects with tight gastrocnemius (defined as [Formula: see text] of ankle dorsiflexion with knee extended) and 16 healthy individuals matched by age and gender participated in the study. The three-dimensional angles of the hip and pelvis and moments of the hip were obtained for both groups during the stance phase of gait using force plates and a motion analysis system. Compared with the control group, the peak hip flexion angle is significantly higher in the tight group ([Formula: see text]), while the peak hip extension angle is significantly lower ([Formula: see text]). Moreover, the peak pelvic anterior tilt is significantly higher than that of the control group ([Formula: see text]), while the peak pelvic posterior tilt is significantly lower ([Formula: see text]). Finally, the peak extensor moment of the tight group is significantly higher than that of the control group ([Formula: see text]), while the peak flexor moment is significantly lower ([Formula: see text]). The results confirm that tight gastrocnemius leads to changes in the three-dimensional hip and pelvic angles and hip moments during gait. Disturbance of the hip and pelvic movement is thus a critical clinical consideration when evaluating soft tissue injuries in patients with tight gastrocnemius.