New technology now available at the Rehabilitation Sciences Research Centre allows the easy collection and examination of numerous gait parameters over many trials for large groups of people within a laboratory or field setting. The GAITRite walkway system shown in Figure 1 is a portable instrumented carpet that can be used in either a laboratory or field setting. The standard walkway is 4m long x 0.6m wide x 6mm high and contains 13,824 sensors. Forty-one gait measures such as step length, foot angle, the path of the foot's centre of pressure and the line of progression are immediately available upon the completion of a walk across the mat. Importantly, the system has been shown to be valid and reliable.

High speed 3-dimensional motion analysis systems combined with force plates allow the collection of complex information such as lower limb joint powers and moments, foot clearance, joint angular data and segment accelerations (Fig 2). Importantly, these systems allow the mechanisms of gait to be examined.

The specific aims of this project are to: (1) develop a reference data set of walking in healthy people (2) identify markers of gait maturation and decline; and (3) better understand mechanisms of gait maturation and decline. There are two parts to the project . Part 1 comprises a field study of walking in a representative sample of the Victorian population using the portable instrumented walkway (GaitRite mat). Part 2 involves 3-dimensional gait analysis in a limited convenience sample of subjects from different age groups, conducted in the Movement Laboratory at the Rehabilitation Sciences Research Centre, Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre. Approximately 3,000 people will be recruited for this study with ages ranging from 5 to 70 years.

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