Introduction:
Locomotion has been studied since ancient times. It is a rapid and complex activity and challenging to visualize. Due to this, locomotion studies have been dependent on the available technology. In the nineteenth century, the scientific study of locomotion began with the advent of the photographic camera.
With the advancement of science and technology, scientists have explained how muscles put force on joints, how brain impulse trigger muscle contraction, and how muscles, bones, and tendons are connected. The overlap of biological science with engineering has helped determine the effect of physical forces on clinical outcomes.
Understanding biomechanics helps improve rehabilitative treatment success in those with limited mobility. Conditions like Parkinson’s disease, osteoarthritis, low back pain, etc, have limited mobility. Rehabilitation helps those affected improve their quality of life by regaining mobility. Understanding biomechanics help in understanding biological and mechanical concepts like muscle activation dynamics.
What Is the Role of Biomechanics in Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation?
The ankle and foot biomechanics plays an essential role in the functioning of the lower extremity. The lower extremity dissipates and distributes tensile, compressive, rotatory, and shearing forces during various phases of gait. Improper force distribution leads to the development of stress and the breakdown of muscle and connective tissue.
Presently orthotics are used to re-establish the biomechanics of the ankle and foot. These have clinical applications in injuries that occur due to improper force distribution. Biomechanics also plays an important role in clinical screening and helps evaluate joint biomechanical dysfunction.
But the disadvantage of three-dimensional biomechanical analysis is that it is time-consuming and requires highly instrumented costly equipment. Biomechanics is important in understanding the injury mechanism, rehabilitation, and hip replacement.
Understanding the biomechanics of the hip aids in diagnosis and helps in the treatment of many pathologies.
Hip biomechanics have aided in the following areas:
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Joint function evaluation.
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Planning of reconstructive surgeries.
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Development and design of the total hip prosthesis.
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Development of therapeutic programs which are needed for joint treatment.
Understanding the biomechanics of ligaments helps in understanding ligament behavior and assists in determining the appropriate material for replacement.
What Is the Role of Biomechanics in Neural Rehabilitation?
Based on gait rehabilitation techniques, neural rehabilitation is used to restore neuromotor function and normal physiological movement. Movement monitoring instruments and sensors that make use of biomechanics helps in gait analysis.
Diabetic and peripheral neuropathy patients are prone to injuries during walking. The biomechanical analysis of walking in such patients helps reduce the incidence of injuries.
Diabetic patients have less ankle power, ankle moment, ankle mobility, ankle velocity, and stride length than normal individuals.
These patients move their legs forward using hip flexors rather than plantar-flexor muscles. The risk for injuries during walking in such patients can be analyzed and monitored using sensors that make use of biomechanical principles.
What Is the Role of Biomechanics in Injury Prevention in Athletes?
Sports medicine program includes evaluation and diagnostic system which help identify musculoskeletal disorders. With the advent of computers, stop-action photography, and force platform biomechanics has emerged as an important research discipline that helps understand the mechanical cause of musculoskeletal injury. It also helps in understanding disease initiation and progression.
The biomechanist is important in identifying the relationship between a person’s movement and muscle activation pattern and the mechanical cause of disease progression and injury risk. Biomechanics also plays an important role in treating patients with knee osteoarthritis. The trunk segment weighs more than fifty percent of an individual's total mass; therefore, dynamic control is important for reducing the athlete's injury risk.
What Is the Role of Biomechanics in Running Gait Training?
One gait cycle or one stride is the period between heel contact of one foot to the next heel contact of the same foot. The gait cycle has two parts: the stance and swing phases. In the gait cycle, about sixty percent is the stance phase, and forty percent is the swing phase. The stance phase further consists of three phases, the initial double stance, single stance, and final double stance.
During a single stance, only one foot is in contact with the ground, but in a double stance, both feet are in contact with the ground. During walking, there is a double stance period. But during running, this double stance period is replaced by the flight phase, during which none of the foot is in contact with the ground. Weight is transferred from one foot to another in the double stance phase. On the other hand, in the single stance phase, the center of mass passes over the foot in preparation for shifting to the other foot. The most significant risk of falling is during this period of weight transfer. Electromyography sensors are used for recording electrical signals produced during muscle activation.
Running requires more muscle strength, balance, and joint range of movement compared to walking. Real-time running gait analysis is done using a high-resolution camera and video recording device.
The gait measuring system includes the following:
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Force plate recording.
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Dynamic Electromyography.
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Motion analysis.
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Stride characteristics measurement.
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Energetics.
The kinetic analysis involves the measurement of movement. Technological advancements in force plates, photographic cameras, videography cameras, bone density scans, magnetic resonance imaging, electromyography, and sensors help in kinematic and kinetic gait analysis and aid in rehabilitating osteoarthritis, stroke, and sports injuries.
Conclusion:
Biomechanical application in musculoskeletal rehabilitation treats tibialis posterior problems, tendinopathies like Achilles, and patellar problems. It also aids in detecting bone stress, the stress in the intervertebral disc, the replacement of degenerated joints, etc. In neural rehabilitation, biomechanics plays a vital role in patients with cerebroplasty, peripheral neuropathy, and diabetic mellitus. Biomechanics also play an important role in walking and running gait analysis and measurement of stride characteristics. Integrated biomechanical computation benefits research, orthopedic education, patient care related to the reconstruction of the musculoskeletal joint, trauma management, and rehabilitation.
