Background

Although stair ambulation should be included in the rehabilitation of the long-term effects of ACL injury on knee function, the assessment of kinetic parameter in the situation where stair gait can only be established using costly and cumbersome force platforms via conventional inverse dynamic analysis. Therefore, there is a need to develop a practical laboratory setup as an assessment tool of the stair gait abnormalities in lower extremity that arise from an ACL deficiency.

Research question

Can the use of a single depth sensor-driven full-body musculoskeletal gait model be considered an accurate assessment tool of the ground reaction forces (GRFs) during stair climbing for patients following ACL reconstruction (ACLR) surgery?

Methods

A total of 15 patients who underwent ACLR participated in this study. GRFs data during stair climbing was collected using a custom-built 3-step staircase with two embedded force platforms. A single depth sensor, commercially available and cost effective, was used to obtain participants’ depth map information to extract the full-body skeleton information. The AnyBody TM GaitFullBody model was utilized to estimate GRFs attained by 25 artificial muscle-like actuators placed under each foot. Mean differences between the measured and estimated GRFs were compared using paired samples t-tests. The ensemble curves of the GRFs were compared between both approaches during stance phase of the gait cycle.

Results

The findings of this study showed that the estimation of the GRFs produced during staircase gait using a depth sensor-driven musculoskeletal model can produce acceptable results when compared to the traditional inverse dynamics modelling approach as an alternative tool in clinical settings for individuals who had undergone ACLR.

Significance

The introduced approach of full-body musculoskeletal modelling driven by a single depth sensor has the potential to be a cost-effective stair gait analysis tool for patients with ACL injury.

中文翻译：

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使用深度传感器驱动的肌肉骨骼模型估算ACL重建患者爬楼梯过程中的地面反作用力

背景

尽管应在ACL损伤对膝关节功能的长期影响的康复中包括下肢行走，但在只能通过昂贵且笨拙的力平台通过常规的逆向动力学分析来确定下步态的情况下，评估动力学参数是可行的。因此，需要开发一种实用的实验室设备，作为由ACL缺乏引起的下肢楼梯步态异常的评估工具。

研究问题

对于ACL重建（ACLR）手术后的患者，使用单个深度传感器驱动的全身肌肉骨骼步态模型是否可以视为爬楼梯过程中地面反作用力（GRF）的准确评估工具？

方法

共有15例接受ACLR的患者参加了这项研究。楼梯爬升过程中的GRF数据是使用具有两个嵌入式测力平台的定制3步楼梯收集的。商业上可买到且具有成本效益的单个深度传感器用于获取参与者的深度图信息，以提取全身骨骼信息。利用AnyBody TM GaitFullBody模型来估计由放置在每只脚下的25个人造肌肉样促动器获得的GRF。使用配对的样本t检验比较了测得的GRF和估计的GRF之间的平均差异。在步态周期的站立阶段，比较了两种方法之间的GRF系谱曲线。

结果

这项研究的结果表明，与传统的逆动力学模型方法相比，ACLR患者在临床环境中，使用深度传感器驱动的肌肉骨骼模型对楼梯步态产生的GRF进行估计可以产生可接受的结果。

意义

由单个深度传感器驱动的全身肌肉骨骼建模的引入方法有可能成为ACL损伤患者的一种经济高效的步态分析工具。