The 3D path of body centre of mass during adult human walking on force treadmill.

Three-dimensional (3D) path of the body centre of mass (CM) over an entire stride was computed from ground reaction forces during walking at constant average speed on a treadmill mounted on 3D force sensors. Data were obtained from 18 healthy adults at speeds ranging from 0.30 to 1.40 ms(-1), in 0.1 ms(-1) increments. Six subsequent strides were analyzed for each subject and speed (total strides=1296). The test session lasted about 30 min (10 min for walking). The CM path had an upward concave figure-of-eight shape that was highly consistent within and across subjects. Vertical displacement of the CM increased monotonically as a function of walking speed. The forward and particularly lateral displacements of the CM showed a U-shaped relationship to speed. The same held for the total 3D displacement (25.6-16.0 cm, depending on the speed). The results provide normative benchmarks and suggest hypotheses for further physiologic and clinical research. The familiar inverted pendulum model might be expanded to gyroscopic, "spin-and-turn" models. Abnormalities of the 3D path might flag motor impairments and recovery.

[1]  Julia T. Choi,et al.  Adaptation reveals independent control networks for human walking , 2007, Nature Neuroscience.

[2]  G. Cavagna,et al.  The mechanics of walking in children. , 1983, The Journal of physiology.

[3]  The 3-D motion of the centre of gravity of the human body during level walking. I. Normal subjects at low and intermediate walking speeds. , 1998, Clinical biomechanics.

[4]  N C Heglund,et al.  Ergometric evaluation of pathological gait. , 1983, Journal of applied physiology: respiratory, environmental and exercise physiology.

[5]  J. Hidler,et al.  Biomechanics of overground vs. treadmill walking in healthy individuals. , 2008, Journal of applied physiology.

[6]  M. Orendurff,et al.  The effect of walking speed on center of mass displacement. , 2004, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[7]  Development of displacement of centre of mass during independent walking in children. , 2004, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

[8]  D. Winter,et al.  Control of whole body balance in the frontal plane during human walking. , 1993, Journal of biomechanics.

[9]  M. Schieppati,et al.  Quiet stance control is affected by prior treadmill but not overground locomotion , 2007, European Journal of Applied Physiology.

[10]  C. Detrembleur,et al.  The 3-D motion of the centre of gravity of the human body during level walking. II. Lower limb amputees. , 1998, Clinical biomechanics.

[11]  A L Hof,et al.  Determining the centre of pressure during walking and running using an instrumented treadmill. , 2005, Journal of biomechanics.

[12]  R. Stein,et al.  Turning strategies during human walking. , 1999, Journal of neurophysiology.

[13]  Michael S Orendurff,et al.  Ground reaction forces and impulses during a transient turning maneuver. , 2008, Journal of biomechanics.

[14]  C. Chung,et al.  Clinical Effects of Botulinum Toxin A and Phenol Block on Gait in Children with Cerebral Palsy , 2004, American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation.

[15]  G. Cavagna,et al.  Mechanical work in terrestrial locomotion: two basic mechanisms for minimizing energy expenditure. , 1977, The American journal of physiology.

[16]  G. Cavagna,et al.  The sources of external work in level walking and running. , 1976, The Journal of physiology.

[17]  G. Courtine,et al.  Human walking along a curved path. I. Body trajectory, segment orientation and the effect of vision , 2003, The European journal of neuroscience.

[18]  Pathological gaits: inefficiency is not a rule. , 1991, Clinical biomechanics.

[19]  J. Hoffman,et al.  American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation , 2007 .

[20]  M. Whittle.  Three-dimensional motion of the center of gravity of the body during walking , 1997 .

[21]  Viviana Rota,et al.  Gait Analysis on Split-Belt Force Treadmills: Validation of an Instrument , 2008, American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation.

[22]  C. Detrembleur,et al.  Influence of gait pattern on the body's centre of mass displacement in children with cerebral palsy. , 2004, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

[23]  M. Hennerici,et al.  Cerebellar stroke with speed-dependent gait ataxia. , 2003, Stroke.

[24]  U. Croce,et al.  A kinematic and kinetic comparison of overground and treadmill walking in healthy subjects. , 2007, Gait & posture.

[25]  C. Detrembleur,et al.  Gait in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: energy cost analysis , 2009, European Spine Journal.

[26]  L. Tesio,et al.  Motion of the center of gravity of the body in clinical evaluation of gait. , 1985, American journal of physical medicine.

[27]  E. Gutierrez-Farewik,et al.  Comparison and evaluation of two common methods to measure center of mass displacement in three dimensions during gait. , 2006, Human movement science.

[28]  R. Alexander,et al.  A dynamic similarity hypothesis for the gaits of quadrupedal mammals , 2009 .

[29]  T. Yamamuro,et al.  Kinetic analysis of the center of gravity of the human body in normal and pathological gaits. , 1987, Journal of biomechanics.

[30]  A. Cappozzo,et al.  Human movement analysis using stereophotogrammetry. Part 1: theoretical background. , 2005, Gait & posture.

[31]  T. Lejeune,et al.  Effect of speed on kinematic, kinetic, electromyographic and energetic reference values during treadmill walking , 2008, Neurophysiologie Clinique/Clinical Neurophysiology.

[32]  G. Cavagna.  Force platforms as ergometers. , 1975, Journal of applied physiology.

[33]  A. Kuo,et al.  Comparison of kinematic and kinetic methods for computing the vertical motion of the body center of mass during walking. , 2004, Human movement science.

[34]  W C Hayes,et al.  Disturbance type and gait speed affect fall direction and impact location. , 2001, Journal of biomechanics.

[35]  J. Massion.  Movement, posture and equilibrium: Interaction and coordination , 1992, Progress in Neurobiology.

[36]  G A Cavagna,et al.  Mechanics of competition walking. , 1981, The Journal of physiology.