Concrete use of the joint coordinate system for the quantification of articular rotations in the digital joints of the horse

Abstract

-A method is detailed allowing the computation of three-dimensional (3D) joint angles. Each joint of the equine digit is modelled as a sequence of three single axis rotary joints. The Joint Coordinate System was used; it involves a specific sequence of cardanic angles. The decomposition of the angles was chosen so that the three elementary angles coincide with the flexion/extension, passive abduction/adduction and lateral/medial rotations. The algorithms and kinematic procedures were described for the equine front digital joints. This method was tested in vitro on four forelimbs. For each limb, angle values were measured while the member was loaded by a press (from 500 to 6 000 N). These tests were repeated while a wedge raised one part of the hoof (toe, heel, lateral and medial sides) in order to induce modifications of the angular patterns of the joints. This method allowed a precise quantitative determination of 3D joint movements. The modifications occurring with the wedges are clearly identified and confirm some previously published semi-quantitative observations. Moreover, this method provides a way to collect objective data on the functional anatomy of joints and could be used to study connective shoeing thoroughly. It may be directly applied to other species and may be used by researchers interested in discreet articular movements, especially occurring in other planes than the sagittal one.horse / kinematics / digital joint / joint coordinate system / cardanic angles Vet. Res. 31 (2000) 297-311 297

Abstracts from the: Fifth International Conference on Equine Locomotion

“…The isolated limbs were secured in the Instron in order that load could be transmitted down the first phalanx (PI), whilst straining the full length of the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) and deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) in impact, midstance or breakover positions. Kinematic data were collected using ProReflexw (Qualysis Medical AB, Gothenburg, Sweden) for the marker system defined by Degueurce et al (2000). Vertical GRF data were collected from a uniaxial load cell 2518-1110 (Instron, UK) and loads on the SDFT and DDFT collected from uniaxial load cells D90 (Sangamo Controls Ltd, UK).…”

Three‐dimensional kinematics of the tarsal joint at the trot

“…The angular and translation data were referenced to their value at the start of the stride. To obtain a measure of the precision of the investigation, the angles and distances between the markers on each triad were calculated for every frame of each trial (Degueurce et al 2000).…”

“…Bone pins have been used in vivo to study 3D kinematics in man (Lafortune et al 1992) and 2D kinematics in horses (van Weeren et al 1992). Degueurce et al (2000) used bone pins in vitro to study the 3D kinematics of the metacarpophalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints. However, the use of bone pins in vivo to study the 3D kinematics of equine joints has not previously been attempted.…”

Cinemática 2D de caballos al trote mediante videometría y modelamiento matemático

“…For horse motion analysis, different techniques, such as analytical photogrammetry [1], videometry [2], accelerometry [3], electromyography [4], and, rarely, mathematical modeling [5][6][7] have been used to help veterinarians and researchers to quantify movement. The first two techniques have several advantages, one of them is that the horse's body does not have to be instrumented and wired, and other is that they allow a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the horse gait.…”

“…To our knowledge, there are few studies on mathematical modeling of equine movement, which allows different kinematic [5,[15][16] and kinetic calculations [6,19]. Some of the most relevant studies are based on 2D or 3D kinematics analysis of the interphalangeal [15] and metacarpophalangeal joints [16]; in these studies, the authors only obtained ranges of motion for flexion/extension, adduction/ abduction, and internal/external rotation at walk and at trot.…”