Mechanically, the most economical gait for slow bipedal locomotion requires walking as an 'inverted pendulum', with: I, an impulsive, energy-dissipating leg compression at the beginning of stance; II, a stiff-limbed vault; and III, an impulsive, powering push-off at the end of stance. The characteristic 'M'-shaped vertical ground reaction forces of walking in humans reflect this impulse-vault-i...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different height of high heels on muscle activation of the paraspinalis cervicis and erector spinae in healthy young women. [Subjects and Methods] Thirteen healthy women were recruited in this study. To examine the effects of different heights of heels on muscle activation, the paraspinalis cervicis (cervical spine) and erect...

We modified an irreducibly simple model of passive dynamic walking to walk on level ground, and used it to study the energetics of walking and the preferred relationship between speed and step length in humans. Powered walking was explored using an impulse applied at toe-off immediately before heel strike, and a torque applied on the stance leg. Although both methods can supply energy through m...

Purpose: Given the high prevalence of varus malalignment of the knee and the consequences of walking on different surfaces on this malalignment, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of walking inclination on knee angle in the frontal plane of patients with varus malalignment. Methods: 18 male subjects with varus malalignment classified at grade 3 bowleg, within the a...

In lower-limb rehabilitation, human action recognition (HAR) technology can be introduced to analyze the surface electromyography (sEMG) signal generated by movements, which provide an objective and accurate evaluation of patient’s action. To balance long cycle required for rehabilitation inconvenient factors brought wearing sEMG devices, a portable acquisition device was developed that used un...

[Purpose] This study compared the EMG activities of the plantarflexor and dorsiflexor muscles during inclined walking with and without modified mobilization with movement (modified MWM) using tape in women with limited ankle dorsiflexion. [Subjects] Fifteen women with limited dorsiflexion in their feet (22 feet in total) were recruited for this study. [Methods] The subjects walked with and with...

The aim of this study was to explore whether strike patterns or shoe conditions have significant influence on running impact and plantar pressure. A total of 12 healthy male volunteers were requested to run under shod and barefoot conditions with heel and forefoot strike to complete 3 trials for each condition. Kinetic data were recorded during the experiment. For ground reaction force, shod ru...

The use of smartphones in clinical practice is steadily increasing with the availability of low cost/freely available "apps" that could be used to assess human gait. The primary aim of this manuscript is to test the concurrent validity of kinematic measures recorded by a smartphone application in comparison to a 3D motion capture system in the sagittal plane. The secondary aim was to develop a ...