CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMAN GAIT BY MEANS OF BODY CENTER-OF-MASS OSCILLATIONS DERIVED FROM GROUND REACTION FORCES

Ground reaction forces from two force plates are used to determine the cyclic oscillations of the body tenter of mass while walking at prefe rred speed. Good approximations to the oscillations may be obtained fr om formulae containing just the first- and second-order Fourier coeffi cients of the combined left-right ground reaction forces taken over a complete walking cycle. The symmetric components of the oscillations h ave consistent mutual phase relations for normal subjects, so that the amplitudes alone can be used as sufficient parameters to characterize the body center of mass oscillations, The analytical technique enable s detection of small but consistent gait asymmetries.