Foot function enabled by human walking dynamics.

Bipedal walking, the habitual gait for man, is rather unique in nature and poses particular challenges for balance and propulsion. The characteristic double-humped ground reaction force profile has been widely observed but not put into functional context. We propose a mathematical model that captures the dynamics of the human foot in walking including the characteristic motion of the center of pressure.

Impulsive ankle push-off powers leg swing in human walking.

Rapid unloading and a peak in power output of the ankle joint have been widely observed during push-off in human walking. Model-based studies hypothesize that this push-off causes redirection of the body center of mass just before touch-down of the leading leg. Other research suggests that work done by the ankle extensors provides kinetic energy for the initiation of swing.

Functional gait asymmetry of unilateral transfemoral amputees.

The aim of prosthetic devices is to mimic the function of biological systems. Numerous investigations have demonstrated significant asymmetries in unilateral amputee gait. The underlying interactions of prosthetic and intact leg are not widely discussed, so far.

A model-experiment comparison of system dynamics for human walking and running.

The human musculo-skeletal system comprises high complexity which makes it difficult to identify underlying basic principles of bipedal locomotion. To tackle this challenge, a common approach is to strip away complexity and formulate a reductive model. With utter simplicity a bipedal spring-mass model gives good predictions of the human gait dynamics, however, it has not been fully investigated whether center of mass motion over time of walking and running is comparable between the model and the human body over a wide range of speed.

Effective leg stiffness in running.

Leg stiffness is a common parameter used to characterize leg function during bouncing gaits, like running and hopping. In the literature, different methods to approximate leg stiffness based on kinetic and kinematic parameters are described. A challenging point in estimating leg stiffness is the definition of leg compression during contact.

Diverging times in movement analysis.

In movement analysis, more than one measuring system is often used to record biomechanical variables. Usually, it is desired to assign the occurring events to a common time line, which can be accomplished by synchronizing data acquisition, i.e.

Effect of gender and defensive opponent on the biomechanics of sidestep cutting.

Purpose: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries often occur in women during cutting maneuvers to evade a defensive player. Gender differences in knee kinematics have been observed, but it is not known to what extent these are linked to abnormal neuromuscular control elsewhere in the kinetic chain. Responses to defense players, which may be gender-dependent, have not been included in previous studies.