The Motion of Body Center of Mass During Walking: A Review Oriented to Clinical Applications.

ABSTRACT: Human walking is usually conceived as the cyclic rotation of the limbs. The goal of lower-limb movements, however, is the forward translation of the body system, which can be mechanically represented by its center of mass (CoM). Lower limbs act as struts of an inverted pendulum, allowing minimization of muscle work, from infancy to old age. The plantar flexors of the trailing limbs have been identified as the main engines of CoM propulsion. Motion of the CoM can be investigated through refined techniques, but research has been focused on the fields of human and animal physiology rather than clinical medicine. Alterations in CoM motion could reveal motor impairments that are not detectable by clinical observation. The study of the three-dimensional trajectory of the CoM motion represents a

SUBMITTER: Tesio L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6763727 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature