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Influence of simulated neuromuscular noise on the dynamic stability and fall risk of a 3D dynamic walking model.

ABSTRACT: Measures that can predict risk of falling are essential for enrollment of older adults into fall prevention programs. Local and orbital stability directly quantify responses to very small perturbations and are therefore putative candidates for predicting fall risk. However, research to date is not conclusive on whether and how these measures relate to fall risk. Testing this empirically would be time consuming or may require high risk tripping experiments. Simulation studies therefore provide an important tool to initially explore potential measures to predict fall risk. This study performed simulations with a 3D dynamic walking model to explore if and how dynamic stability measures predict fall risk. The model incorporated a lateral step controller to maintain lateral stability. Neuronal noise of increasing amplitude was added to this controller to manipulate fall risk. Short-term (?(S)(*)) local instability did predict fall risk, but long-term (?(L)(*)) local instability and orbital stability (maxFM) did not. Additionally, ?(S)(*) was an early predictor for fall risk as it started increasing before fall risk increased. Therefore, ?(S)(*) could be a very useful tool to identify older adults whose fall risk is about to increase, so they can be enrolled in fall prevention programs before they actually fall.

SUBMITTER: Roos PE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3112180 | biostudies-other | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Influence of simulated neuromuscular noise on the dynamic stability and fall risk of a 3D dynamic walking model.

Roos Paulien E PE Dingwell Jonathan B JB

Journal of biomechanics 20110326 8

Measures that can predict risk of falling are essential for enrollment of older adults into fall prevention programs. Local and orbital stability directly quantify responses to very small perturbations and are therefore putative candidates for predicting fall risk. However, research to date is not conclusive on whether and how these measures relate to fall risk. Testing this empirically would be time consuming or may require high risk tripping experiments. Simulation studies therefore provide an ...[more]

PMID: 21440895

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Project description:BackgroundThe shoe's collar plays a significant role in supporting the ankle during walking. Since the protective effect of the collar requires the circular embracing of the ankle and shank, a stiffer collar might be involved with increased circumferential ankle pressure (CAP). It is not clear how collar CAP affects walking performance. Therefore, this study was aimed at examining the influence of the collar CAP on the kinematics, dynamic stability, electromyography (EMG), and plantar pressure during normal walking.MethodSixteen healthy male participants walked on a treadmill while wearing a custom-designed high-collar shoe with 10 (low), 30 (medium), and 60 mmHg (high) CAP conditions, and the joint angles, dynamic stability index, EMG, and plantar pressure were measured.ResultWhile the low CAP condition did not affect the ankle range of motion (ROM), The high CAP condition restricted both the ankle sagittal and frontal ROM, whereas the medium CAP condition limited only the ankle frontal ROM. The knee and hip ROM did not differ between conditions. The dynamic stability for the high and medium CAP cases was comparable but significantly higher than that of the low CAP condition. The ankle muscle activity and corresponding co-contraction increased with increasing CAP for gastrocnemius medialis (GM), soleus (SOL), peroneus longus (PL), tibialis anterior (TA) muscles in the weight acceptance and push-off phases but not in the single limb support. Knee muscle activity, including vastus lateralis (VL) and semitendinosus (SEMI) was similar between all conditions. A higher relative pressure was observed under the lateral aspect of the heel when walking in the high CAP condition.ConclusionThe results suggest that a high-collar shoe with a high CAP may not be an appropriate choice for walking owing to the injury risk factors and limited walking efficiency. A medium CAP is associated with certain advantages and, thus, a superior choice for high-collar shoe design.

Dataset Information

Influence of simulated neuromuscular noise on the dynamic stability and fall risk of a 3D dynamic walking model.

Publications

Influence of simulated neuromuscular noise on the dynamic stability and fall risk of a 3D dynamic walking model.

Similar Datasets

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