THE ANATOMICAL &

MECHANICAL STRUCTURE
OF THE HUMAN BODY

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 Overview
• Body dimensions of people on earth are
estimated.

• Biomechanics – describe human body as a

basic skeleton whose parts are linked in joints;
the members have volumes and mass
properties and are moved by muscles.

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 CLASSIC MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF BIOMECHANICS
Scenario
The other night I finally finished my work for the day and pushed away from the
computer. Feeling the tightness in my chest and noticing how my shoulders were rolled
forward, I laid down on the hardwood floor and focused on breathing, stretching, and
massaging muscles until my shoulder blades once more laid flat on my back. The
obvious source of the discomfort was in my chest and shoulders, but as I followed lines
of tension I found myself working on muscles in my forearm, which, as they relaxed,
helped my shoulders to relax and open. What is the process here? How does a forearm
muscles help tighten or relax the shoulder?

A common over-
simplification of the classical
biomechanical model is that
muscles attach directly to
bones and that, as a result,
one can calculate the force
that a muscle is contracting
with and assume that this
force is applied to the bone
which causes the bone to
rotate around the fulcrum
point of the joint that the
muscle crosses.

Book: Anatomy of Movement

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Musculoskeletal Key

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 Development
• Human species develop and die, grow more,
some vanish while others flourish.

• In the process, variations occur in body

dimensions of different groups of people.

• Development of the human race can be traced

by fossils over several million years in Africa.
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• Anthropology - the study of mankind.

• Physical anthropology – scientific subgroup in

which the body, particularly bones, is
measured and compared.

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 Modern anthropometry
– a widely applied scientific discipline.

– the measurement of the human body.

– measuring bones of early people.

– assessing sizes and proportions of

contemporaries.

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 Standardization of measuring methods
Four customary positions of the subject for measurement of
stature:
1) Standing naturally upright
2) Standing stretched to maximum height
3) Leaning against a wall with the back flattened and
buttocks, shoulders and back of the head touching the wall
4) Lying on one’s back (supine). (opposite is prone)
The difference between measures when the standing subject
either stretches or just stands upright can easily be 2 cm or
more. Lying supine results in the tallest measure. This example
shows that standardization is needed to assure uniform postures
and comparable results.
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 Measuring planes in anthropometry
• Transverse plane – cuts a person into top and
bottom segments.

• Frontal (coronal) plane – cuts a person into

front and rear portions.

• Medial (mid-sagittal) plane – cuts a person

into right and left sections.
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TERMINOLOGY
The disciplines of anthropometry and biomechanics have a specialized
vocabulary of terms with specific meanings for designating points and
distances of measurement, range, direction of motion, and mass.

Body plane and orientation

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 Classical measuring techniques
• A set of grids
• Anthropometer
• Spreading caliper
• Sliding caliper
• A cone
• Circular holes in a thin plate
• Tapes
• A scale
• Shadow technique
• Templates
• Casting

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 New measurement techniques
• Photographs
• Stereophotometry
• Holography
• Film
• Video tape
• Projected geometric grid
• Laser
• Computer models of human body
• Facet algorithms

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 Variability
• Anthropometric data show considerable
variability from four sources:

1. Measurement variability
2. Intraindividual variability
Intraindividual variability refers to the natural variation that occurs
within an individual's measurements over time. For example, a
person's weight may fluctuate slightly from day to day or week to
week, even if they maintain a relatively stable diet and exercise
routine. Intraindividual variability is influenced by a variety of
factors, including genetics, age, sex, and lifestyle

Interindividual variability, on the other hand, refers to the

3. Interindividual variability differences in measurements between different individuals. For
example, two people of the same age and sex may have different
heights or body compositions due to differences in genetics,
environment, and lifestyle

Anthropometric data refers to measurements and characteristics related to the human

4. Secular variations body, such as height, weight, and body composition. Secular variations in
anthropometric data refer to long-term changes in these measurements over time.
There are many factors that can contribute to secular variations in anthropometric data,
including changes in environmental conditions, such as nutrition, disease prevalence,
and lifestyle factors. For example, improved nutrition and access to healthcare over
time have led to increases in height and weight in many populations. Similarly, changes
in physical activity levels, such as decreased manual labor and increased sedentary
work, can contribute to changes in body composition
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 1. Measurement variability
• Different care is exercised in

– Selecting population samples

– Using measurement instruments

– Storing the measured data

– Applying statistical treatments

hypothesis, calculating standard deviation (estimate
measurement

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 2. Intraindividual variability
• Size of the same body segment of a given
person changes from youth to age,
depending also on nutrition, physical exercise
and health.

• Such changes become apparent in

“longitudinal” studies, in which an individual
is observed over years and decades.

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 3. Interindividual variability
• Individuals differ from each other in arm
length, weight , height, and other
measurements.

• Data describing a population sample are

usually collected in a “cross-sectional” study,
in which every subject is measured at the
same moment in time.

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 4. Secular variations
• People nowadays are larger, on average, than
their ancestors.

• During the last five decades stature has

increased in North America and in Europe by
about 1 cm per decade, on the average, while
body weight has increased about 2 kg per
decade.

• Probable reason is improved nutrition and

hygiene.
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He PingPing, the world's
shortest man, has died aged
21. Here, we look back at when
he met the world's tallest
man. Sultan Kosen, 8 ft 1 in
(246.5 cm), welcomes the
shortest man in the world, 2 ft
5.37 in (74.61 cm) He Pingping,
to his native Turkey.

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 Percentiles serve the
designer in several ways:
1. They help to establish portion of a user population that will
be included in (or excluded from) a specific design solution.
A certain product may need to fit everybody who is taller than
5th percentile or smaller than 95th percentile in a specified
dimension, such as grip size or arm reach. Thus, only the 5
percent having values smaller than 5th percentile and the 5th
percent having values larger than 95th percentile, will not be
fitted. The central 90 percent of all users will be
accommodated.

2. Percentiles are easily used to select subjects for fit tests.

If the product needs to be tested, persons having 5th or 95th
percentile values in the critical dimensions can be employed
for use tests.

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 Percentiles serve the
designer in several ways:
3. Any body dimension, design value, or score of a subject can
be exactly located.
A certain foot length can be described as a given percentile
value of that dimension, or at certain seated height can be
described as fitting a certain percentile value of popliteal
height (a measure of lower leg length), or a test score can be
described as being a certain percentile value.

4. Percentile helps in the selection of persons to use a given

product.
If a cockpit of an airplane is designed to fit 5th to 95th
percentiles, one can select cockpit crews whose body
measures are between the 5th and 95th percentile in the critical
design dimensions.

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 Human Biomechanics
• Skeletal System
– Artificial joints
– The spinal column
• Muscle System
– Architecture of muscle
– The motor unit

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 Human Biomechanics
• Biomechanical Description Of The Body
– Body kinetics
– Human motion
– Human strength

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