Two simple methods for determining gait events during treadmill and overground walking using kinematic data.

In this study the variation in ground reaction force parameters was investigated with respect to adaptations to speed and mode of progression, and to type of foot-strike. Twelve healthy male subjects were studied during walking (1.0-3.0 m s-1) and running (1.5-6.0 m s-1). The subjects were selected with respect to foot-strike pattern during running. Six subjects were classified as rearfoot strikers and six as forefoot strikers. Constant speeds were accomplished by pacer lights beside an indoor straightway and controlled by means of a photo-electronic device. The vertical, anteroposterior and mediolateral force components were recorded with a force platform. Computer software was used to calculate durations, amplitudes and impulses of the reaction forces. The amplitudes were normalized with respect to body weight (b.w.). Increased speed was accompanied by shorter force periods and larger peak forces. The peak amplitude of the vertical reaction force in walking and running increased with speed from approximately 1.0 to 1.5 b.w. and 2.0 to 2.9 b.w. respectively. The anteroposterior peak force and mediolateral peak-to-peak force increased about 2 times with speed in walking and about 2-4 times in running (the absolute values were on average about 10 times smaller than the vertical). The transition from walking to running resulted in a shorter support phase duration and a change in the shape of the vertical reaction force curve. The vertical peak force increased whereas the vertical impulse and the anteroposterior impulses and peak forces decreased. In running the vertical force showed an impact peak at touch-down among the rearfoot strikers but generally not among the forefoot strikers. The first mediolateral force peak was laterally directed (as in walking) for the rearfoot strikers but medially for the forefoot strikers. Thus, there is a change with speed in the complex interaction between vertical and horizontal forces needed for propulsion and equilibrium during human locomotion. The differences present between walking and running are consequences of fundamental differences in motor strategies between the two major forms of human progression.

Ground reaction forces at different speeds of human walking and running

Computer Solution of Linear Algebraic Systems. By G. Forsythe and C. B. Moler. Pp. xi, 148. 1967. (Prentice-Hall.)

Automatic detection of gait events using kinematic data

Knowledge of adaptations to changes in speed and mode of progression (walking-running) in human locomotion is important for an understanding of underlying neural control mechanisms and allows a comparison with more detailed animal studies. Leg movements and muscle activity patterns were studied in ten healthy males (19-29 yr) during level walking (0.4-3.0 m X s-1) and running (1.0-9.0 m X s-1) on a motor-driven treadmill. Movements were recorded in the sagittal plane with a Selspot optoelectronic system. Recordings of EMG were made from seven different muscles of one leg by means of surface electrodes. Durations, amplitudes and relative phase relationships of angular displacements and EMG activity were analysed in relation to different phases of the stride cycle (defined by the leg movements). The durations of the entire stride cycle and of the support phase were found to decrease curvilinearly with velocity. Swing and support phase durations were linearly related to cycle duration in walking, and curvilinearly related in running. The characteristic occurrence of double support phases in walking was also seen in very slow running. Support length increased with speed up to about 1.2 m both in walking and running, but was longer in walking at the same velocity. Increases in net angular displacements were largest for hip movements and for knee flexion-extension during the swing phase in running. With increasing velocity a clear shift in relative rectus femoris activity occurred from knee extension to hip flexion. Gastrocnemius lateralis (LG) was co-activated with the other leg extensors prior to foot contact in running, whereas in walking LG was not turned on until later in the support phase. The ankle flexor tibialis anterior had its main peak of activity after touch-down in walking and before touch-down in running. The same basic structure of the stride cycle as in other animals suggests similarities in the underlying neural control. Human speed adaptation is distinguished primarily by an increase in both frequency and amplitude of leg movements and by a possibility of changing between a walking and a running type of movement pattern.

Changes in leg movements and muscle activity with speed of locomotion and mode of progression in humans

A new method to measure foot contact

A new method for the extraction of a repeating pattern in cyclic biomechanical data is proposed-singular value decomposition pattern analysis (SVDPA). This method is based on the recent work of Kanjilal and Palit (1994, 1995) and can be applied to both contiguous and repeated trials without being constrained to be strictly periodic. SVDPA is a data-driven approach that does not use a preselected set of basis functions; but instead utilizes a data matrix with a special structure to identify repeating patterns. Several important features of SVDPA are described including its close relationship to the Kahunen-Loeve transform. The dominant pattern is defined as the average energy component (AEC). The AEC is obtained from the SVD of the data matrix and is equivalent to the optimal [maximal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)] ensemble average pattern. The degree of periodicity and SNR for the AEC are defined explicitly from the singular values of the data matrix. The authors illustrate the usefulness of SVDPA for dominant pattern extraction by applying it to the quasiperiodic three-dimensional trajectory of a marker attached to the trunk during treadmill locomotion. The AEC obtained for the normalized trajectory and error estimates at each point suggests that SVDPA could be a useful tool for the extraction of the fine details from cyclic biomechanical data.

Virgil P. Stokes

Papers

A new method to measure foot contact

Dominant pattern extraction from 3-D kinematic data

A method for obtaining the 3D kinematics of the pelvis and thorax during locomotion

From stride period to stride frequency.