Kinematics of the Compensatory Step by the Trailing Leg Following an Unexpected Forward Slip while Walking

Abstract

In this study, we described the joint angle changes of the trailing leg during the compensatory step used to recover balance following a forward slip while walking. Fifteen healthy young males walked on a walkway which incorporated a movable platform to simulate a forward slip while walking. In 12 out of the 15 subjects, the trailing leg was rapidly lowered during the swing phase and was placed on the ground behind the slipping foot following the onset of the slip. Time taken for the onset of the slip to the placing of the trailing foot was 0.28Ϯ0.03 s. The amount of hip flexion lessened after 52% of the normalized time, with 0% being the onset of the platform movement and 100% representing the placing of the trailing foot on the ground. The flexed knee began to extend at 72% of the normalized time, which continued until the foot was firmly placed. The plantarflexed ankle began to dorsiflex at 56% of the normalized time, the angle of which peaked at the moment the toe made contact with the walkway again-the end of the movement. These findings aided us in understanding the mechanism underlying the compensatory step to recover the loss of balance caused by a forward slip while walking.

The Role of Recovery Lower Limb Segments in Post-Slip Determination of Falls Due to Instability or Limb Collapse

“…Consistently, it has been suggested that the recovery limb should extend the knee joint as quickly as possible for fall prevention. 13 As older adults tend to fall due to the same cause (i.e., instability or limb-collapse), 31 leg-extension exercises and whole body vibration training, 5,28 which could increase knee extensor strength, may be helpful for individuals who tend to fall due to instability, while plantar flexion exercises and resistance training, 9,26 which could increase planter flexor strength, may be helpful for individuals who tend to fall due to limb collapse.…”

Biomechanics of Climbing Coconut Trees and its Implications in Ankle Foot Morphology- A Video Sequence analysis

“…In the final 30% of stance phase the foot plantar flexes again to prepare for the push off phase of walking and reaches a range of 14°-20°at push off [24][25][26]. But, the vertical climbing in coconut tree requires initial dorsiflexion in stance phase (20°-36°) followed by plantar flexion (16°-51°),by push off.…”

Effects of Load and Gradient on Musculoskeletal Loading During Dynamic Two-Wheeled Cart Pushing and Pulling

“…The eight video cameras were placed around the walkway to create a capture volume. Each marker is simultaneously imaged by multiple cameras and the location of the marker in the 3D space (x, y, z coordinates) is computed using triangulation by the Vicon Nexus software.A Plug-in Gait (PIG) marker set was used for the kinematic data collection in this study.PIG is the Vicon implementation of the Conventional Gait Model which is widely used by the gait analysis community and has been validated in a number of studies(Andreoni, et al, 2009;Hwang & Kim, 2009;Riley, et al, 2007;Kojima, Nakajima, & Takada, 2008). PIG uses a defined marker set and a set of subject measurements to create joint kinematics and kinetics output.…”