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(d) Walking speed is a good indicator of mobility and is often used in research of gait disorders. It has been suggested that walking speed should be reported in terms of the Froude number to remove the effects of individual subject height in experiments. Suppose a patient with cerebral palsy walks with excessive knee flexion (this is called crouch gait). Knowing that she needs leg length to compute Fr, the clinician measures the patient's leg length while he lies on the exam table. She also measures his walking speed. She is pleased when she computes Fr = 0.25, which suggests a reasonable walking speed for the patient’s stature and thus good energy efficiency. However, after measuring the patient's oxygen consumption, she finds that his gait is not energetically efficient at all. Explain this discrepancy in her results using the Froude number. Based on this information, do you think that Fr is a good clinical indicator of walking speed?
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