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AN EFFICIENT ALGORITHM FOR CLINICAL MASS CENTER LOCATION OF HUMAN BODY

NAGA, SOUMYA

Abstract Details

2005, MS, University of Cincinnati, Engineering : Mechanical Engineering.
Center of mass (COM) or Mass center is the governing parameter that is commonly investigated in studies on human posture and balance. In balance control studies, small displacements of COM are important. Clinically, estimation methods for COM require digitizing procedures using filming technology that need force plate data and a motion analysis system. When the body moves, the displacement of COM can only be estimated and cannot be measured directly, hence its accuracy is affected by numerous factors. For clinical purposes, a number of reflective markers are attached on specific locations of various body parts to calculate the COM displacement. Markers are tracked automatically by optoelectronic system to be represented as points in 3D space. One of the largest source of error occurs in the usage of markers. Typically as many as twenty or more markers are used to calculate COM displacement. The objective of this study is to develop an efficient algorithm for determining the mass center displacement accurately so as to optimize the number of markers used. Modern gait analysis requires an adequate biomechanical model to infer the positions of body segments from the measured positions of markers placed on the subject’s skin. In this study a method was developed for a seventeen segment human body model to locate the COM using the orientation angles, transformation matrices and anthropometric data. Another algorithm was proposed for the same model using five marker points. It was shown that the results obtained for COM displacements of both the methods are equivalent. It was observed that there was no remarkable variation in the COM displacement when five markers were used. The proposed method with five markers gives a similar and accurate estimation of COM displacement when compared with the first method. Thus the five marker methodology iii can used to predict postural stability in gait studies as it is an efficient and less cumbersome approach to estimate COM displacement.
Dr. Ronald Huston (Advisor)
70 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • NAGA, S. (2005). AN EFFICIENT ALGORITHM FOR CLINICAL MASS CENTER LOCATION OF HUMAN BODY [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1131323551

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • NAGA, SOUMYA. AN EFFICIENT ALGORITHM FOR CLINICAL MASS CENTER LOCATION OF HUMAN BODY. 2005. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1131323551.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • NAGA, SOUMYA. "AN EFFICIENT ALGORITHM FOR CLINICAL MASS CENTER LOCATION OF HUMAN BODY." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1131323551

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)