Visualization of Combined Motions in Human Joints

Relationships between joint pathology and kinematics are well known in orthopedics, though generally they remain unquantified: painful joints may exhibit abnormal motion and, vice versa, chronic nonphysiological motions may lead to joint pathology. Presently, orthopedic therapists have no tool that allows them to simultaneously visualize joint morphology and joint kinematics. This article presents a novel technique to improve visualization of the motions of human joints and the variable relationships between the joint segments during their displacement.