SIMULTANEOUS BILATERAL 3-D ABLE-BODIED GAIT

This paper reports on the muscle powers and mechanical energies develo ped during gait by the lower limbs over two consecutive cycles. Ninete en male able-bodied subjects participated in this study. An 8-camera v ideo system filmed the subjects bilaterally as they walked at their na tural speed over two force plates. A 3-dimensional inverse dynamic ana lysis was carried out to determine joint moments, powers and mechanica l energy at each joint and in all planes for a total of 57 trials. The walking speed (1.30 m/s), the cadence (106.5 steps/min) and the stanc e phase relative duration (60.7% of the gait cycle) of the right limb were not significantly different from those of the left limb. The limb muscle peak powers were mostly different in the sagittal plane and re flected gait adjustments rather than asymmetry in gait. Generally, the se differences occurred during absorption bursts. The total positive w ork was similar for both limbs and was associated with maintaining a s imilar walking speed for each limb. The right limb developed a signifi cantly greater total negative work than the left limb. This was associ ated with the control of the lower limb in locomotion.