The last 2 weeks have been a bit stressful!
In our Brantford and now Mississauga offices as our workhorse; The Pedigait video-gait analysis system that we purchased almost 10 years ago developed a serious problem preventing us from gathering new video images.
It’s at times like this that we suddenly realize how crucial a component it has become in helping us deliver the services we do.It also illustrates how little I understand about computer systems and how they function, thank goodness for you strange folks that choose to specialize in this field.
Looking back on my years of teaching as a clinical instructor in our professional programme at Toronto General Hospital, I can’t help but wonder how much better a job I could have done for the students then.
The Pedigaits primary role is helping us identify and diagnose the root cause of biomechanical disfunction. Subsequently; we can use it to evaluate both improvement in function and deterioration over time. In deciding surgical intervention and/or orthotic modification we often run a more recent Pedigait video analysis, then contrast and compare to previous captures, to assist the decision making process.
Better still it provides an amazing platform for us to demonstrate to our patients the actual source of their complaint in a crisp clear video, in slow motion, and from every angle. We believe an important part of our job is to inform and educate, without that our patients can never truly make an informed decision regarding which treatment course they would like us to deliver or to seek referral.
The average human eye can see 40-60 frames per second, decreasing with age. Fighter pilots and gamers can be trained to see up to 220 per minute. But processing these images requires a much slower rate in the high teens to 20 for most. Thus watching human motion at real time, even with many years of experience and training is limited in its insight and detail.
So while dealing with our short term crisis may cause some interruption in service, I apologize in advance to Dr Milioto but we will continue to pester you to leave your clinic for a few hours and return to your design lab and craft a new version of your superb system.