Gait is the pattern of movement of the limbs of animals, including humans, during locomotion over a solid substrate. Most animals use a variety of gaits, selecting gait based on speed, terrain, the need to maneuver, and energetic efficiency. Different animal species may use different gaits due to differences in anatomy that prevent use of certain gaits, or simply due to evolved innate preferences as a result of habitat differences. While various gaits are given specific names, the complexity of biological systems and interacting with the environment make these distinctions "fuzzy" at best. Gaits are typically classified according to footfall patterns, but recent studies often prefer definitions based on mechanics. The term typically does not refer to limb-based propulsion through fluid mediums such as water or air, but rather to propulsion across a solid substrate by generating reactive forces against it.
Eadweard Muybridge was an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the first name "Eadweard" as the original Anglo-Saxon form of "Edward", and the surname "Muybridge", believing it to be similarly archaic. He also photographed Yosemite, San Francisco, the newly acquired Alaskan Territory, subjects involved in the Modoc War, and lighthouses on the West Coast.
Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of biophysics.
Gait analysis is the systematic study of animal locomotion, more specifically the study of human motion, using the eye and the brain of observers, augmented by instrumentation for measuring body movements, body mechanics, and the activity of the muscles. Gait analysis is used to assess and treat individuals with conditions affecting their ability to walk. It is also commonly used in sports biomechanics to help athletes run more efficiently and to identify posture-related or movement-related problems in people with injuries.
A gait is a manner of limb movements made during locomotion. Human gaits are the various ways in which humans can move, either naturally or as a result of specialized training. Human gait is defined as bipedal forward propulsion of the center of gravity of the human body, in which there are sinuous movements of different segments of the body with little energy spent. Varied gaits are characterized by differences such as limb movement patterns, overall velocity, forces, kinetic and potential energy cycles, and changes in contact with the ground.
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Bernstein was a Soviet neurophysiologist who has pioneered motion-tracking devices and formal processing of information obtained from the use of these devices. He was also one of first psychologists to suggest that behaviour is generative, constructive and not reactive. He was born and died in Moscow.
Sports biomechanics is a quantitative based study and analysis of professional athletes and sports activities in general. It can simply be described as the physics of sports. In this subfield of biomechanics the laws of mechanics are applied in order to gain a greater understanding of athletic performance through mathematical modeling, computer simulation and measurement. Biomechanics is the study of the structure and function of biological systems by means of the methods of mechanics. Within mechanics there are two sub-fields of study: statics, which is the study of systems that are in a state of constant motion either at rest or moving with a constant velocity; and dynamics, which is the study of systems in motion in which acceleration is present, which may involve kinematics and kinetics. Sports biomechanists help people obtain optimal muscle recruitment and performance. A biomechanist also uses their knowledge to apply proper load barring techniques to preserve the body.
The Horse in Motion is a series of cabinet cards by Eadweard Muybridge, including six cards that each show a sequential series of six to twelve "automatic electro-photographs" depicting the movement of a horse. Muybridge shot the photographs in June 1878. An additional card reprinted the single image of the horse "Occident" trotting at high speed, which had previously been published by Muybridge in 1877.
Mimi A. R. Koehl is an American marine biologist, biomechanist, and professor at University of California, Berkeley, and head of the Koehl Lab. She was a MacArthur Fellow in 1990.
Christopher L. 'Kit' Vaughan, is Emeritus Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town in South Africa.
Robert McNeill (Neill) Alexander, CBE FRS was a British zoologist and a leading authority in the field of biomechanics. For thirty years he was Professor of Zoology at the University of Leeds.
The International Society of Biomechanics, commonly known as the ISB, is a society dedicated to promoting biomechanics in its various forms. It promotes the study of all areas of biomechanics at the international level, although special emphasis is given to the biomechanics of human movement. The Society encourages international contacts amongst scientists, promotes the dissemination of knowledge, and forms liaisons with national organizations. The Society's membership includes scientists from a variety of disciplines including anatomy, physiology, engineering, orthopedics, rehabilitation medicine, sport science and medicine, ergonomics, electro-physiological kinesiology and others.
Malcolm Peat, MBE was a Canadian academic. He was a Professor Emeritus of Queen's University. He was a pioneer in the development of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation academically in Canada and was responsible for the design, development, implementation and evaluation of disability and rehabilitation practices throughout the world. He was the first Canadian physical therapist to obtain a doctoral qualification and to assume Directorship of a Canadian university school of rehabilitation, and the first to develop and implement university graduate studies in Rehabilitation in Canada.
CAREN protocol—is a versatile, multi-sensory virtual reality system used for treatment and rehabilitation of human locomotion, or walking, as well as pain, posture, balance spinal stability and motor control integration.
The function of the lower limbs during walking is to support the whole-body against gravitational forces while generating movement patterns which progress the body forward. Walking is an activity that is primarily confined to the sagittal plane, which is also described as the plane of progression. During one gait cycle, there are two major phases: stance and swing. In a healthy individual walking at a normal walking speed, stance phase makes up approximately 60% of one gait cycle and swing makes up the remaining 40%. The lower limbs are only in contact with the ground during the stance phase, which is typically subdivided into 5 events: heel contact, foot flat, mid-stance, heel off, and toe off. The majority of stance phase (~40%) takes place in single-limb support where one limb is in contact with the ground and the contralateral limb is in swing phase. During this time interval, the lower limb must support constant changes in alignment of body weight while propelling forward. The hip, knee, and ankle joints move through cyclical kinematic patterns that are controlled by muscles which cross these joints. As postural changes occur, the body adapts by motor tuning an efficient muscular pattern that will accomplish the necessary kinematics required to walk.
Thurmon E. Lockhart is an American biomedical engineer, researcher and educator. He is the Inaugural MORE Foundation Professor of Life in Motion at Arizona State University, a guest professor at Ghent University in Belgium and, serves as a research affiliate faculty at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. He is an associate editor of Annals of Biomedical Engineering and academic and guest editor of the Sensors journal He has worked significantly to bring research to practice with various businesses to reduce falls.
Claudia Mazzà is a professor of biomechanics at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Her research centres on biomechanics of human movement. She is the director of the EPSRC funded MultiSim project and a leading scientist in the Mobilise-D research project.
Antonio Pedotti is an Italian scientist, bioengineer and researcher. He is Emeritus Professor of Biomedical Technologies at the Polytechnic University of Milan where he has been chair of the Bioengineering Department, member of the Academic Senate and Director of the Biomedical Technologies Laboratory. He is the former director of the Bioengineering Center of Milan cofounded by the Politecnico and the Scientific Medical Institute Don Gnocchi.
A virtual human is a representation of a real or fictional person rendered in software. Virtual human have been created as tools and artificial companions in simulation, video games, film production, human factors and ergonomic and usability studies in various industries, clothing industry, telecommunications (avatars), medicine, etc. These applications require domain-dependent simulation fidelity. A medical application might require an exact simulation of specific internal organs; film industry requires highest aesthetic standards, natural movements, and facial expressions; ergonomic studies require faithful body proportions for a particular population segment and realistic locomotion with constraints, etc.
Animal Locomotion: An Electro-photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Animal Movements is a series of scientific photographs by Eadweard Muybridge made in 1884 and 1885 at the University of Pennsylvania, to study motion in animals. Published in July 9,1887, the chronophotographic series comprised 781 collotype plates, each containing up to 36 pictures of the different phases of a specific motion of one subject.
