Abstract
The aim of the present study was to develop a new method to reconstruct damaged metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ) of Homo naledi's fossil and to deepen the understanding of the first metatarsal head (FMH) morphological adaptation in different gait patterns. To this purpose three methods were introduced. The first served to compare the anthropometric linear and volumetric measurements of Homo naledi's MTPJ to that of 10 various athletes. The second was employed to measure curvature diameter in FMH's medial and lateral grooves for sesamoid bones. The third was used to determine the parallelism between medial and lateral FMH grooves. The anthropometric measurements of middle-distance runner to the greatest extent mimicked that of Homo naledi. Thus, it was used to successfully reconstruct the damaged Homo naledi's MTPJ. The highest curvature diameter of medial FMH groove was found in Homo naledi, while in lateral FMH groove it was the highest in volleyball player, suggesting their increased bear loading. The parallelism of medial and lateral FMH grooves was observed only in Homo naledi, while in investigated athletes it was dis-parallel. Athletes' dis-paralleled structures make first MTPJ simple flexion movement a complicated one: not rotating about one axis, but about many, which may result in bringing a negative effect on running. In conclusion, the presented method for the reconstruction of the damaged foot bone paves the way for morphological and structural analysis of modern population and fossil hominins' gait pattern.
Highlights
In the last decade, running related injuries in sports have been investigated with considerable attention given to the differences in the running gait biomechanics, especially between habitually barefoot and shod runners, and among various kinds of sport with their unique requirements (Murphy et al, 2013)
curvature diameter (CD) of first metatarsal head (FMH) groove differ among the investigated subjects, suggesting the correlation between their movement patterns on one side and the structure and morphology of metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ) on the other side
A fundamental study by Jacob demonstrated that a sum vector of all forces directed from the ground to the FMH is dependent on the following forces: ground reaction forces under the toe pad and metatarsal head and forces acting along the tendons of the flexor hallucis longus and flexor hallucis brevis in order to balance the force produced under the toe pad (Jacob, 2001)
Summary
In the last decade, running related injuries in sports have been investigated with considerable attention given to the differences in the running gait biomechanics, especially between habitually barefoot and shod runners, and among various kinds of sport with their unique requirements (Murphy et al, 2013). Since it is reported that sport injuries, such as patellofemoral pain syndrome and tibial stress fractures occur with lower risk in barefoot runners, the shift to barefoot running pattern is suggested (Lohman III et al, 2011; Murphy et al, 2013). We have to keep in mind that running pattern differs in todays’ sports, which are associated with a different amount of risk to sports related injuries
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