The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	The use of instrumented measures to describe lower extremity joint mechanics
Author:	Kaufman, Steven Thomas
View Online:	njit-etd2008-050 (xii, 80 pages ~ 4.8 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Biomedical Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Biomedical Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Foulds, Richard A. (Committee chair) Adamovich, Sergei (Committee member) Mantilla, Bruno A. (Committee member)
Date:	2008-01
Keywords:	Lower extremity joint mechanics Torque
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	Currently, various biomechanical assessments are used in clinical settings that offer diagnostic information about the studied joint. These assessments, however, are based on the judgment and experience of the therapist conducting the test and have a high degree of inter and intra rater variability, decreasing the strength of the observation. A set of instrumented measures consisting of a force/torque sensor and an angle sensor was created to quantitatively assess the mechanics of the lower extremity joints as a possible solution to the low repeatability of commonly used clinical tests. It was shown through the use of instrumentation that the torques about the lower leg joint during passive movement could be accurately measured with a high degree of repeatability in a variety of conditions, and that the torque measured by the force sensor matches those calculated by the angle sensor using the inverse kinematic equation for a damped pendulum. By knowing the kinematic torques occurring during the movement, any extra torque generated by pathological involuntary muscle contraction can be accurately quantified for a better description of the biomechanics of the joint under passive movement conditions.