Segmental contributions to the ground reaction force in the single support phase of gait

Abstract

An inverse dynamics model for the single support (SS) phase of gait is developed to study segmental contributions to the ground reaction force (GRF). With segmental orientations as the generalized degrees of freedom (DOF), the acceleration of the body's center-of-mass is expressed analytically as the summation of the weighted kinematics of individual segments. The weighting functions are constants that are functions of the segment masses and center-of-mass distances. Using kinematic and anthropometric data from literature as inputs, and using the roll-over-shape (ROS) to model the foot-ground interaction, GRF obtained from the inverse model are compared with measured GRF data from literature. The choice of the generalized coordinates and mathematical form of the model provides a means to weigh individual segment contributions, simplify models and choose more kinetically accurate inverse dynamics models. For the kinematic data used, an anthropomorphic model that includes the frontal plane rotation of the pelvis in addition to the sagittal DOF of the thigh and shank most accurately captures the vertical component of the GRF in the SS phase of walking. Of the two ROS used, the ankle-foot roll-over shape provides a better approximation of the kinetics in the SS phase. The method presented here can be used with additional experimental studies to confirm these results.