Mechanical Engineering - Theses
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ItemMusculoskeletal model for gait analysis in people with partial foot amputation( 2015)Partial foot amputation is the most common amputation performed in the world today. In Australia, over 74% of all lower limb amputations are partial foot amputations. Diabetic patients are 15 times more likely to have an amputation than people without diabetes. Despite the prevalence of partial foot amputation, the influence of different levels of amputation on the biomechanics of gait is not well understood. This research project aimed to develop subject-specific musculoskeletal models to simulate and analyse gait in people with partial foot amputation, including quantification of the forces developed in the lower limb muscles during walking. One subject with transmetatarsal amputation and another with metatarsophalangeal amputation were selected based on inclusion criteria. In the transmetatarsal subject, the effects of compromised metatarsals on spatiotemporal data, kinematics, kinetics and individual muscle forces were compared with those of a control subject with metatarsophalangeal amputation through toes. The validation of developed models showed that predicted joint angles and joint moments were comparable to those reported in another study so developed musculoskeletal models for subjects were used for individual muscle force prediction of lower limb muscles during stance. For some muscles, the timing of forces predicted by the models and the timing of their EMG data were comparable so the forces predicted for muscles were reliable so far. The results showed that once the metatarsals are compromised through transmetatarsal amputation, some gait abnormalities were observed. These changes in gait were caused by an inability to generate power across the ankle joint. In the residual limb with transmetatarsal amputation, the reduction in the magnitude of the net ankle joint moment was associated with the reduction in the calf muscle forces during terminal stance and pre-swing of the gait. Compromised metatarsals through transmetatarsal amputation may impair the biomechanics of gait significantly through the reduction in the capacity of calf muscle forces to plantar flex the ankle and generate the necessary ankle torque to propel the residual limb.