Biomechanical quantification and analysis of the human foot and ankle joint complex

Abstract

The human foot and ankle joint complex are essential lower limb components responsible for facilitating smooth gait and other activities related to everyday living. Unfortunately, this natural movement is lost in amputees and difficult to replicate even with the aid of prosthetic devices. Thus, to contribute to the understanding of the fundamental characteristics relative to natural lower limb movement, this study aims to quantify and analyse the biomechanical features of the human foot and ankle joint complex in relation to the sagittal and frontal planes of the foot. The research design and methodology comprise an experimental process wherein 15 healthy young to middle-aged individuals were recruited. The participants were required to navigate a set of five low-level activities, particularly 1) level walk, 2) step up and down, 3) 20° slope incline and decline walk, 4) standing and sitting, and 5) lifting an object. The participants were equipped with a sensor platform device consisting of three ADXL 345 sensors, strategically positioned to restrict kinematic data to the foot and ankle. Notably, data from the sensors were collected in conjunction with reference data from a motion capture camera system to ensure the integrity of the sensors. In terms of kinetics, force plates were used to obtain the reaction forces acting on participants during the experimental activities. It was observed that a loss of data, which primarily occurred due to poorly optimised code of the interface application, significantly decreased the accuracy of the data collected from the sensor platform. Nonetheless, a comparative analysis of the findings showed similar patterns between the experimental results and the reference data, thus validating the research design and method used. Therefore, suggestions could be made to enhance data accuracy and generalisability in future research. For the kinetic aspect of this study, it was suggested that a modular force plate system be used to investigate the reaction forces of supplementary experimental activities. In terms of the kinematic data, accuracy could be enhanced by recruiting a larger sample size, optimising the code behind the application interface, and considering the transverse plane of the foot in addition to the sagittal and frontal plane.