Michael Hahn, Ph.D.
VA Center of Excellence for Limb Loss Prevention and Prosthetic Engineering
E-mail: mehahn@u.wa...


TITLE:

"Joint Mechanical Energy Expenditure and Compensation During Locomotion"


ABSTRACT

When exploring the biomechanical systems of the hip, knee
and ankle joints during normal and pathological gait, it is
common to analyze system kinetics to the endpoint of work,
energy and power relationships. One common technique
utilizes secondary analysis of inverse dynamics methods that
rely on rigid body link-segment models and their associated
limitations and assumptions. This can pose problems for some
forms of knee and foot/ankle prosthetic systems which do not
behave as the rigid body link-segment models dictate. Some
creative techniques have been developed that solve for joint
energy and power without utilizing an actual joint center or
by accounting for the instantaneous center of rotation of a
given joint axis. This seminar will review some of the
theories behind the topic, summarize the efforts of model
revisions and/or development, and discuss implications for
the interpretation and application of research findings.