History...

The Gait Laboratory is part of the Section of Biomechanics in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Rush University Medical Center, in Chicago, IL. The laboratory was established in 1974 when the former department Chairman, Dr. Jorge Galante, brought in Thomas P. Andriacchi, Ph.D as Gait Laboratory Director. Dr. Andriacchi remained Director of the laboratory until 1998. Dr. Debra Hurwitz was then the Director of the laboratory until April of 2003 when Dr. Markus Wimmer became the Acting Director of the laboratory. The laboratory staff has been comprised of researchers, clinical collaborators, and post-doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate students, embracing a broad range of disciplines, necessary for objective and clinically applicable research. The Gait Laboratory was among the first in the United States to successfully employ opto-electronic methods for the analysis of human movement. Using the automated capabilities of opto-electronic methodology for motion analysis, the laboratory has acquired gait data on approximately 4,200 subjects which are maintained in the Human Mechanics Repository.