Fig. 6.

Visual representation of changes in the temporal gait pattern caused by MCLT sham and MCLT + MMT surgery in the rat. As in Fig. 4, data for an average-size naïve rat walking at an average velocity were used to construct a representative hind limb foot strike sequence for a walking rat using a modified Hildebrand chart (top). In this chart, the left hind limb foot strikes occur at the same time in each group. Using this presentation, temporal asymmetries can be observed by the shift of the right hind limb foot strike later in time for the MCLT + MMT group at week 1 and week 4. Because the right hind limb single-limb support phase (Right Limb SLS) occurs during the swing phase of the left hind limb, reduced right hind limb single-limb support can be observed via a delayed toe-off in the left hind limb in the MCLT + MMT group at week 1 and in both MCLT sham and MCLT + MMT groups at week 4 and week 6. Conversely, left hind limb single-limb support (Left Limb SLS) occurs during the swing phase of the right hind limb. As with spatial symmetry in Fig. 4, alterations in left hind limb single-limb support are more difficult to see, owing to the left foot strike standardization. MCLT medial collateral ligament transection, MMT medial meniscus transection