A FOUNDATION FOR SYSTEMS ANTHROPOMETRY. PHASE II

This report describes the experimental procedures utilized at Highway Safety Research Institute and The Civil Aeromedical Institute in an investigation of the landmarks, axes systems, and joint properties necessary to describe the human body in three-dimensional space. The study at HSRI utilized three fresh cadavers in the study of the spatial relationship between internal and external landmarks in the lumbar/pelvic/femur region of the body. In addition, the motion characteristics of the hip joint in flexion-extension, abduction-adduction, and internal-external rotation were investigated. The study at CAMI is using 150 male and 150 female osteological specimens from the Hamann-Todd skeletal collection to investigate the three-dimensional variability of landmark locations in the pelvis. Data are presented in tabular and graphical forms. In general, the results of this program to date can be summarized as follows: (1) biological variability must be considered as a set of probabilistic phenomena in deterministic biomechanical models; (2) body position and mobility must be considered simultaneously in three-dimensional space; (3) data collection and analysis must incorporate the use of anatomical frames of reference defined by functionally significant landmarks in the skeletal system; and (4) body position can be defined by the location of anatomical frames of reference, and body mobility can be defined by relative motion between adjacent anatomical frames of reference. (Author)