Affiliations: Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Center for BiomedicaL Engineering, University of Kentucky, Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children, 1900 Richmond Road, Lexington, KY, USA | Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA | Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA
Note: [] Correspondence: J.L. Walker, Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children, 1900 Richmond Road, Lexington KY 40502, USA. Fax: (1)(606) 268 9531.
Abstract: Footprint analysis is a non-invasive method to quantitate functional recovery after crush injury in the rat sciatic nerve model. Traditional methods of producing the footprints for measurement are limited by inability to reliably produce clear prints when the injury is severe. We describe the use of video technique with image analysis to record and measure these prints. Video had fewer unmeasurable prints than ink. For the 1–5 and 2–4 toe spreads, there was good correlation of video measurements with ink method and better repeatability using video as compared with ink. However, the print length parameter determined by video had poorer repeatability and poorly correlated with that measured by ink. Therefore, calculation of a Sciatic Function Index by video is not appropriate. Since the print length also varies with gait velocity, we believe that a ratio of injured:uninjured hindfoot 1–5 toe spreads as measured by video is a more reliable and repeatable measure of functional recovery in this model.
