Movement analysis of the upper limb during cyclic tasks

Abstract

Historically the use of movement analysis as a tool for clinical diagnosis was predominantly employed in the analysis of human gait. Resultant data can then be analysed within a 2D framework using only the sagittal plane. When analysing these movements using 2D techniques, graphical software packages reconstruct the movement patterns of a trial using stick figure representations. These representations however provided limited information and were unable to address movements, which occurred in more than one, or a combination of planes as is evident with the upper limb. Therefore a technique was required to represent this planar movement, and is presented here. In 1982 Michael Whittle produced a trial that brought gait analysis into a 3D framework and along with it, the ability to study other parts of the body previously thought to be too complex for movement analysis techniques. 3D movement analysis was applied to various fields (i.e., rehabilitation, sports science, veterinary science, etc) and a trend recently developed in biomechanical research wherein the principles established by researchers in movement analysis of human gait where applied to the upper limb. The motivation for using movement analysis systems has also morphed from an emphasis on understanding the movements involved in prehensile tasks, to an aid for rehabilitation. The real advantage of implementing 3D techniques allows for a more useful and anatomically true representation. Trajectories and joint angles, indicated by marker placement are tracked during an experiment. This poster illustrates the progress of the project thus far, providing results of a normative data set of upper limb kinematics during prehensile tasks with the intention of analysing these results in comparison to a patient group in the latter stages of the project.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Cheryl D. Metcalf: orcid.org/0000-0002-7404-6066

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