The Effect of Phantom Sensation on the Autocorrelation of Gait in Amputation

Amputation affects the individual’s entire life with a long rehabilitation and adaptation process. Phantom sensation is the sensing of the presence/position of the limb that existed before but subsequently lost its function. Our research aims to investigate the effect of phantom limb sensation on the autocorrelation of gait in individuals with transtibial amputation. In this context, autocorrelation function (ACF), rescaled range analysis (RRA), and power spectrum density (PSD) evaluations are employed to analyze the acceleration data of gait from the vertical plane. Subjects with unilateral trans-tibial amputation and prostheses were involved in the work. As a result, the gait profile of individuals with phantom sensation for approximately 512 steps on a non-perturbed ground is similar to healthy individuals by the results obtained from all three methods. This shows us that phantom sensation can be a functional part of gait and is a supporting factor for amputees in the adaptation process.