This paper describes a procedure to determine the progress of the gait
rehabilitation in relation to a reference obtained from a normal popu
lation. This procedure includes three stages: (1) data standardization
, to give time and space aspects comparable from one individual to ano
ther; (2) monovariate and multivariate distance computation, to assess
the difference between a disabled patient at a given time in the reha
bilitation and the reference computed from individuals with a 'normal'
gait; and (3) distance evolution. Since several variables are taken i
nto account at the same time, the star view is proposed, each ray corr
esponding to the average distance between a given function of the pati
ent undergoing rehabilitation and the corresponding reference function
. Thus, as the rehabilitation process progresses, the distances are re
duced and the star ray decreases. As a case study, the procedure is ap
plied to the rehabilitation of a patient with an anterior cruciate def
icient knee. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.