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Effects of human stature and muscle strength on the standing strategies: A computational biomechanical study

Ashtiani, M. N ; Sharif University of Technology | 2020

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1177/0954411920914859
  3. Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd , 2020
  4. Abstract:
  5. It has been hypothesized that the muscular efforts exerted during standing may be altered by changes in personal factors, such as the body stature and muscular strength. The goal of this work was to assess the contribution of leg muscles using a biomechanical model in different physical conditions and various initial postures. An optimized inverse dynamics model was employed to find the maximum muscular effort in 23,040 postures. The simulation results showed that mid-range knee flexion could help the healthy and strong individuals maintain balance, but those with weaker muscle strength required more knee flexion. Individuals of weak muscular constitution as well as those with tall stature are at the highest risk of imbalance/falling. The number of imbalanced postures due to deficits in the calf and hamstring muscles was reduced by 7.5 times by strengthening the whole body musculature. The calf and the hamstring muscles play a key role in balance regardless of stature. © IMechE 2020
  6. Keywords:
  7. Biomechanical model ; Frailty ; Optimization ; Postural balance ; Size ; Biomechanics ; Physiological models ; Bio-mechanical models ; Biomechanical studies ; Inverse dynamics models ; Knee flexions ; Leg muscles ; Muscle strength ; Muscular effort ; Physical conditions ; Muscle
  8. Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine ; Volume 234, Issue 7 , 2020 , Pages 674-685
  9. URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0954411920914859