scholarly journals Energy absorption at lower limb joints in different foot contact strategies while descending stairs

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 433-440
Author(s):  
Hyeong-Min Jeon ◽  
Ki-Kwang Lee ◽  
Jun-Young Lee ◽  
Ju-Hwan Shin ◽  
Gwang-Moon Eom

BACKGROUND: Joint loads in different walking strategies during stair descent have been investigated in terms of the joint moment in association with the risk of osteoarthritis. However, the absorption mechanisms of the potential energy loss are not known. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare the mechanical energy absorptions in lower limb joints in different initial foot contact strategies. METHODS: Nineteen young subjects walked down on instrumented stairs with two different strategies, i.e., forefoot and rearfoot strike. Power and energy at lower limb joints during stance phase were compared between strategies. RESULTS: Lower limb joints absorbed 73 ± 11% of the potential energy released by descending stairs and there was no difference between strategies. Rearfoot strategy absorbed less energy than forefoot strategy at the ankle joint in the 1st phase, which was compensated mainly by more energy absorption at the knee in the 2nd phase and less energy generation at the hip joints in the 3rd phase. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that a leg absorbs most of the potential energy while descending stairs irrespective of the walking strategies and that any reduction of energy absorption at one joint is compensated by other joints. Greater energy absorption at the knee joint compared to the other joints suggests high burden of knee joint muscles and connective tissues during stair-descent, which is even more significant for the rearfoot strike strategy.

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-87
Author(s):  
Hannah Steingrebe ◽  
Thorsten Stein ◽  
Klaus Bös ◽  
Marian Hoffmann

Background and Objectives: Sit-to-Stand (STS) movements are fundamental activities of daily living. As STS movements can be physically demanding especially for the elderly, bi- and unilateral STS movements are frequently used in motor tests to measure lower limb strength. In contrast to bilateral STS movements, the knee joint loads occurring during unilateral STS movements as well as the influences of chair height or lower limb dominance are still unknown. Methods: In a randomized study approach knee joint loads during unilateral STS movements from three different chair heights have been analyzed using biomechanical motion analysis in a population of 19 healthy middle-aged adults. Additionally, the influence of lower limb dominance and the level of perceived exertion have been investigated. Results: Lower limb dominance had no effect on knee joint load. In contrast, chair height significantly affected the peak shear forces in anterior (high: 3.94 ± 0.63 N/kg; low: 4.09 ± 0.61 N/kg) and lateral (high: 1.52 ± 0.79 N/kg; low: 1.78 ± 0.88 N/kg) direction as well as the peak knee adduction moment (high: 0.56 ± 0.29 Nm/kg; low: 0.65 ± 0.32 Nm/kg). Additionally, chair height but not limb dominance significantly affected the level of perceived exertion (high: 11.1 ± 2.8; low: 12.5 ± 3.5). Conclusion: The detected knee joint loads occurring during a unilateral STS movements are similar to those of other activities of daily living like e.g. stair ascent and thus, unilateral STS movements are applicable for usage in motor tests for middle-aged subjects. While lower limb dominance has no impact on the knee joint load, lower chair heights increase the load on the knee joint. Therefore, chair height should be considered when using unilateral STS movements in motor tests.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0255008
Author(s):  
Chen Huang ◽  
Ping Keung Chan ◽  
Kwong Yuen Chiu ◽  
Chun Hoi Yan ◽  
Desmond Shun Shing Yeung ◽  
...  

Torsional malalignment was detected in subjects with medial knee osteoarthritis (KOA) but few studies have reported the effect of torsional deformity on knee joint loads during walking. Therefore, this study examined the relationships between lower limb torsional alignments and knee joint loads during gait in people with symptomatic medial KOA using cross-sectional study design. Lower limb alignments including tibial torsion, tibiofemoral rotation and varus/valgus alignments in standing were measured by EOS low-dose bi-planar x-ray system in 47 subjects with mild or moderate KOA. The external knee adduction moment (KAM), flexion moment (KFM) and the KAM index which was defined as (KAM/ (KAM+KFM)*100) during walking were analyzed using a motion analysis system so as to estimate the knee loads. Results revealed externaltibial torsion was positively associated with KAM in subjects with moderate KOA (r = 0.59, p = 0.02) but not in subjects with mild KOA. On the contrary, significant association was found between knee varus/valgus alignment and KAM in the mild KOA group (r = 0.58, p<0.001) and a sign of association in the moderate KOA group (r = 0.47, p = 0.08). We concluded tibial torsion and knee varus/valgus mal-alignments would be associated with joint loading in subjects with moderate medial KOA during walking. Radiographic severity might need to be considered when using gait modification as a rehabilitation strategy for this condition.


2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-148
Author(s):  
Ibragim A. Shamov

Osgood-Schlatter disease is a specific disorder related to osteochondropathies that affects young subjects and is localized in the tuberositas tibiae. The disease frequently develops after injuries including loading ones. It is apparent as gradual swelling of the knee joint(s) that becomes painful. Pain increases during walking, lower limb flexion an extension or stair climbing but may die down at rest. Diagnostics is based on the clinical picture. Radiodiagnostic methods may be helpful but their efficacy is inferior to that of clinical examination. Anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective therapy, immobilization of the affected joint, controlled exercises, and balneotherapy are indicated.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0021955X2110210
Author(s):  
Alejandro E Rodríguez-Sánchez ◽  
Héctor Plascencia-Mora

Traditional modeling of mechanical energy absorption due to compressive loadings in expanded polystyrene foams involves mathematical descriptions that are derived from stress/strain continuum mechanics models. Nevertheless, most of those models are either constrained using the strain as the only variable to work at large deformation regimes and usually neglect important parameters for energy absorption properties such as the material density or the rate of the applying load. This work presents a neural-network-based approach that produces models that are capable to map the compressive stress response and energy absorption parameters of an expanded polystyrene foam by considering its deformation, compressive loading rates, and different densities. The models are trained with ground-truth data obtained in compressive tests. Two methods to select neural network architectures are also presented, one of which is based on a Design of Experiments strategy. The results show that it is possible to obtain a single artificial neural networks model that can abstract stress and energy absorption solution spaces for the conditions studied in the material. Additionally, such a model is compared with a phenomenological model, and the results show than the neural network model outperforms it in terms of prediction capabilities, since errors around 2% of experimental data were obtained. In this sense, it is demonstrated that by following the presented approach is possible to obtain a model capable to reproduce compressive polystyrene foam stress/strain data, and consequently, to simulate its energy absorption parameters.


2013 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. S85
Author(s):  
P. DeVita ◽  
D. Beavers ◽  
R.F. Loeser ◽  
D.J. Hunter ◽  
C. Legault ◽  
...  

1999 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 383-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy M. Griffin ◽  
Neil A. Tolani ◽  
Rodger Kram

Walking humans conserve mechanical and, presumably, metabolic energy with an inverted pendulum-like exchange of gravitational potential energy and horizontal kinetic energy. Walking in simulated reduced gravity involves a relatively high metabolic cost, suggesting that the inverted-pendulum mechanism is disrupted because of a mismatch of potential and kinetic energy. We tested this hypothesis by measuring the fluctuations and exchange of mechanical energy of the center of mass at different combinations of velocity and simulated reduced gravity. Subjects walked with smaller fluctuations in horizontal velocity in lower gravity, such that the ratio of horizontal kinetic to gravitational potential energy fluctuations remained constant over a fourfold change in gravity. The amount of exchange, or percent recovery, at 1.00 m/s was not significantly different at 1.00, 0.75, and 0.50 G (average 64.4%), although it decreased to 48% at 0.25 G. As a result, the amount of work performed on the center of mass does not explain the relatively high metabolic cost of walking in simulated reduced gravity.


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