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THE IN VIVO FRICTIONAL INTERNAL WORK OF OSCILLATING LIMBS IN

HUMAN LOCOMOTION

Poster · July 2018

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.10731.28969

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 THE IN VIVO FRICTIONAL INTERNAL WORK OF
OSCILLATING LIMBS IN HUMAN LOCOMOTION
Alberto E. Minetti, Alex P. Moorhead & Gaspare Pavei 8th World Congress
Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, Physiology Division, University of Milan, Italy
of Biomechanics
alberto.minetti@unimi.it alex.moorhead@unimi.it gaspare.pavei@unimi.it
Dublin, Ireland

Introduction
Traditionally, the mechanical work of locomotion is divided into two components, internal and external. External Work is the work required to
raise and accelerate the body barycentre while Internal Work is the work required to overcome segmental inertia. Fenn (1930) mentioned the
concept of friction as part of Work nearly 90 years ago, and later the viscous frictional coefficient ( ) of excised human joints
was studied by analyzing their behavior in pendular machines (Unsworth et al., 1975). However, the in vivo friction opposing segmental
oscillation due to anatomical structures within and surrounding the pivoting center has still yet to be measured. Therefore, calculation of
Internal Work has not yet accounted for the friction within joints and their surrounding tissues. During locomotion, the upper and lower limbs
will behave as straight pendulums during the swing phase and the lower limb will act as a loaded, inverted pendulum during the stance phase.
Data regarding the energy dissipation in vivo during locomotion are not yet reported.
Aim
To sample passive oscillation of human limbs and infer the damping
coefficient in various loading scenarios by means of a mathematical
model and consequently estimate the work required to overcome such
energy dissipation during locomotion.
Methods
Sixteen males (age 26±3 years; height 1.79±0.08 m; body mass 73.0±6.7
Figure 1. Subject in the upright position with Figure 2. Passive oscillation of subject’s leg kg; mean±SD) performed 10 repetitions of 7 trials: Straight, unloaded
straight leg held by operator preparing to until motion is brought to rest by dissipation of
release for passive oscillation. energy due to friction within the joint. upper and lower limb oscillations, and inverted, loaded and unloaded
lower limb swings. Loads were +4, +8, +10, and +12kg. Oscillation
kinematics were sampled at 200Hz by using 7 infrared cameras (Vicon Motion Systems, UK). Subjects were fitted with 3 reflective markers
placed at the joint centers. In the loaded, inverted trials, markers were also placed at the
center of each added mass. Damping in the straight position for both upper and lower
limbs was inferred by determining the exponential decay of the angle time course until
the limb came to rest (Figure 2). Phase planes of the limb oscillation (Figure 3) were
visually inspected to ensure no muscular influence. When deviation from the expected
trajectory was apparent, the trial was discarded. Using the 3D position of each marker in
accordance with Dempster (1959) anthropometric tables, the proximal distance to the
overall center of mass and radius of gyration of the investigated limb were calculated for
each trial type. Thereafter, the data were processed to infer the damping coefficient of
Figure 3. Ideal phase plane of a
the joint. damped, inverted pendulum (Mumford,
Results 2006).

Passive, straight oscillations of the upper limb were very similar to the behavior of
the lower limb shown in Figure 2. Damping coefficients for the upper and lower
limb trials in both the straight and inverted positions are shown in Figure 6.
Discussion
Angle oscillations of
straight limbs support
Figure 4. Phase plane of subject’s lower Figure 5. Subject in the inverted posi-
the viscous vs. dry limb in the inverted position. tion with 12kg load as operator pre-
damping model, pares to push the leg.

though a mixed hypothesis could also apply. Experiments also indicate that higher
loads result in greater damping coefficients in the inverted oscillations. We estimate
the effects of damping during walking at approximately 1.4 m/s. Upper limbs show
a small, almost negligible damping, resulting in 7% of all the frictional internal work
( ). Most of (73%) is done during the stance
phase, at the level of lower limb joints. A preliminary, approximate model equation
indicates that the frictional internal work is a linear function of speed, quantitatively
close to the kinematic internal work ( , Minetti 1998). These new results
Figure 6. Relation between mean load and frictional damping coefficient.
challenge the mechanical (and metabolic) energy balance of locomotion, as it was
known so far.

References
Dempster, W. T., et al. (1959). The anthropometry of manual work space for the seated subject. Am. J Physical Anthro. 17:289-317.
Fenn, W.O. (1930). Frictional and kinetic factors in the work of sprint running. Am J Physiol 92: 582-611.
Minetti, A. E. (1998) A model equation for the prediction of mechanical internal work of terrestrial locomotion. J. Biomech 31:463-468.
Minetti, A. E., et al. (2017). Damping in human limbs oscillation. 68th SIF Congress, Pavia, Italy.
Mumford, D. (2006). Chapter Seven: The pendulum and phase-plane plots. Unpublished lecture notes: 1-15.
Unsworth, A., et al. (1975). The frictional behavior of human synovial joints—Part I: Natural joints. J Lubrif. Technol. 97: 369-376.

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