Abstract
Recent advances in computational technology have enabled the use of model-based simulation with real-time motion tracking to estimate ground reaction forces during gait. We show here that a biomechanical-based model including a foot-ground contact can reproduce measured ground reaction forces using inertial measurement unit data during single-leg support, single-support jump, side to side jump, jogging, and skipping. The framework is based on our previous work on integrating the OpenSim musculoskeletal models with the Unity environment. The validation was performed on a single subject performing several tasks that involve the lower extremity. The novelty of this paper includes the integration and real-time tracking of inertial measurement unit data in the current framework, as well as the estimation of contact forces using biologically based musculoskeletal models. The RMS errors of tracking the vertical ground reaction forces are 0.027 bodyweight, 0.174 bodyweight, 0.173 bodyweight, 0.095 bodyweight, and 0.10 bodyweight for single-leg support, single-support jump, side to side jump, jogging, and skipping, respectively. The average RMS error for all tasks and trials is 0.112 bodyweight. This paper provides a computational framework for further applications in whole-body human motion analysis.
Highlights
Ground reaction forces (GRF) in human motion is an important factor to determine if a motion can result in injuries, such as in running [1]
Until the further development of inertial measurement units (IMUs), motion analysis and GRFs were limited to being measured in a motion laboratory setting with the requirement of calibrated force plates or instrumented treadmills
Visualization of the estimated vectors during the can be observed in panel upon closer estimated GRF vectors during the task can be observed in each panel upon closerinspection inspectionofofthe the estimated vectorsFor during thedetailed task can be observed in eachFigure panel upon closer inspection of the biomechanical more biomechanical model
Summary
Ground reaction forces (GRF) in human motion is an important factor to determine if a motion can result in injuries, such as in running [1]. Until the further development of inertial measurement units (IMUs), motion analysis and GRFs were limited to being measured in a motion laboratory setting with the requirement of calibrated force plates or instrumented treadmills. The one issue that arises from the motion analysis outside of a motion laboratory is the lack of force plates to measure GRFs. Wearable devices capable of estimating GRFs have been developed to address the lack of GRF data when using. These wearable devices include the use of load cells and pressure sensors [2,3,4]. These sensors have their limitation as they are cumbersome, or they have a short life cycle. Heavy load cells can affect natural walking and change gait patterns [5,6]
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