Mechanical efficiency of walking with spring-loaded axillary crutches

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of using spring-loaded crutches on mechanical efficiency in comparison to the use of standard crutches. Seven healthy male participants were recruited for this experiment. They were instructed to walk around a track on two types of crutches for five minutes under four controlled conditions. Ground reaction force and motion trajectories were recorded, which were used to calculate mechanical energy expenditure. Simultaneously, portable gas analysis machinery was used to collect the metabolic parameters of participants, in order to determine mechanical efficiency, the ratio of mechanical energy expenditure to metabolic energy expenditure. It was found that the mechanical efficiency was significantly higher when participants walked with spring-loaded crutches than when they walked with standard crutches. There were no significant differences in metabolic energy expenditure between the spring-loaded crutch conditions and standard crutch conditions.