Two-Segments Foot Model for Biomechanical Motion Analysis

A deeper investigation of foot anatomy and a more accurate biomechanical model can be objects of interest to investigate daily activities, as to optimize orthopedic tools and bipedal robots. Several studies address the development of multi-segments kinematic foot models, but less to the dynamic analysis, because of instruments limitations. The aim of this work is the development of a two-segments foot model for biomechanical analysis. The model has been validated considering gait cycle of a healthy volunteer. The application of two adjacent force plates allowed the simultaneous recording of the ground reaction forces separately for the fore and hindfoot, as the pointing out of their involvement during stance. Ankle power generation at toe off in traditional model presents an overestimation around 50% of the total value in the two-segments model.