Faculty DirectorySteven Gard
Associate Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
(and by courtesy) Mechanical Engineering
Contact
NU Prosthetics-Orthotics Center680 North Lake Shore Drive, Suite 1100
Chicago, IL 60611
312-503-5718Email Steven Gard
Website
Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center
Departments
Research Interests
We are investigating human movement, particularly in areas of rehabilitation.
Many of our projects focus on the biomechanics of able-bodied and pathological gait. Our goal is to better understand normal gait, and to use that knowledge to evaluate and improve the gait of persons who walk with prosthetic or orthotic devices. Results from our work may enable us to develop more functional lower-extremity prosthetic and orthotic components.
Selected Publications
Nepomuceno A, Major MJ, Stine R, Gard S (2017). Effect of Ankle Immobilization on Able-Bodied Gait as a Model to Increase Understanding About Bilateral Transtibial Amputee Gait. Prosthetics & Orthotics International, 41(6), 556-563.
Koehler-McNicholas, S., Lipschutz, R. and Gard, S.A. (2017). The Biomechanical Response of Persons with Transfemoral Amputation to Variations in Prosthetic Knee Alignment during Level Walking. Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development, 53(6), 1089-1106.
Boutwell, E., Stine, R., and Gard, S.A. (2016). Shock Absorption during Transtibial Amputee Gait: Does Longitudinal Prosthetic Stiffness Play a Role? Prosthetics & Orthotics International, 41(2), 178-185.
Major, M.J., Raghavan, P. and Gard, S.A. (2016). Assessing a Low-Cost Accelerometer-Based Technique to Estimate Spatial Gait Parameters of Lower-Limb Prosthesis Users. Prosthetics & Orthotics International, 40(5), 643-648.
Boutwell, E., Stine, R., and Gard, S.A. (2016). Impact Testing of the Residual Limb: System Response to Changes in Prosthetic Stiffness. Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development, 53(3), 369-378.
Zissimopoulos, A., Fatone, S. and Gard, S.A. (2015). Effects of Ankle-Foot Orthoses on Mediolateral Foot Placement Ability During Post-Stroke Gait. Prosthetics & Orthotics International, 39(5), 372-379.
Boutwell, E., Stine, R., and Gard, S.A. (2015). A Novel In Vivo Impact Device for Evaluation of Sudden Limb Loading Response. Medical Engineering & Physics, 37(1), 151-155.
Major, M., Johnson, W. and Gard, S.A. (2015). Inter-rater Reliability of Mechanical Tests for Functional Classification of Prosthetic Components. Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development, 52(4), 467-476.
Book Chapters
Gard, S.A. (2016). The Influence of Prosthetic Knee Joints on Gait. Chapter from Handbook of Human Motion (Eds: B. Müller & S. Wolf), Springer Publishing Co., New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-30808-1_75-1.
Gard, S.A. (2006). Prosthetic Devices/Methods. Entry in Wiley Encyclopedia of Biomedical Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ.
Patents
Hansen, A., Gard, S.A., Childress, D., Ruhe, B., Williams, R. (2013). Equilibrium-Point Prosthetic and Orthotic Ankle-Foot Devices. United States Patent 8,597,369.