This study aims to investigate and compare the influence of plantar loading variables during gait of patients with diabetic in young ages. Subjects were divided into the following two groups: diabetic foot, 56 subjects; control group, 52 subjects. Plantar pressure distribution was measured during barefoot gait using the Novel emed platform. Both midfoot and lateral forefoot regions’ peak pressu...

INTRODUCTION The current knowledge of sports-related injuries emphasizes the importance of orthotic devices as a protective equipment. This work will analyse the role of the orthotic devices in treatment of some injuries of the foot in soccer players. The pathological processes that can be developed in the foot are caused by either simple acute traumas duo to contact or microtraumas due to repe...

BACKGROUND Static assessments of the foot are commonly advocated within the running community to classify the foot with a view to recommending the appropriate type of running shoe. The aim of this work was to determine whether selected static foot assessment could predict medial longitudinal arch (MLA) motion during running. METHODS Fifteen physically active males (27 ± 5 years, 1.77 ± 0.04 m...

The design of a knee joint is a key issue in robotics and biomechanics to improve the compatibility between prosthesis and human movements and to improve the bipedal robot performances. We propose a novel design for the knee joint of a planar bipedal robot, based on a four-bar linkage. The dynamic model of the planar bipedal robot is calculated. We design walking reference trajectories with dou...

The development in technology and informatics in the last decades enables integrated analysis of biomechanical and clinical data and facilitates the understanding of relations between human gait characteristic and different medical conditions of a patient. The aim of the study was to demonstrate the importance of gait temporospatial parameters analysis [opposite foot off, opposite foot contact,...

This study compared the biomechanical characteristics of stepping in 10 older (aged 55+ years) Tai Chi (TC) practitioners and 10 age-matched non-TC (NTC) controls. Subjects were asked to take a step on an auditory cue as fast as possible, in the forward and backward directions, and with and without mental distractions, respectively. Stepping characteristics included step initiation time, prepar...

The design of a knee joint is a key issue in robotics and biomechanics to improve the compatibility between prosthesis and human movements and to improve the bipedal robot performances. We propose a novel design for the knee joint of a planar bipedal robot, based on a four-bar linkage. The dynamic model of the planar bipedal robot is calculated. We design walking reference trajectories with dou...

Vertical impact force during downhill running should be analyzed in terms of risk of injuries caused in hill training of distance runners. In spite that the impact force in running was influenced by some kinematic parameters at the foot contact (Gerritsen et al. 1995), few studies analyzed interactions between ground reaction forces (GRFs) and kinematics during downhill running in detail. The p...

With the popularity of non-traditional and off-road race events on the rise, the number of runners encountering trail surfaces has undergone a marked increase in recent years. Despite the growing popularity of trail and off-road running, little research has been done to investigate the effects of running on irregular surfaces. PURPOSE: The purpose was to investigate the kinematic and metabolic ...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND Total contact casting is regarded as the gold standard treatment for plantar foot ulcers. Load transfer from the plantar surface of the foot to the walls of the total contact cast has previously been assessed indirectly. The aim of this proof of concept study was to determine the feasibility of a new method to directly measure the load between the cast wall and the lowe...