Abstract
This paper uses two symmetrical models, the passive compass-gait biped and a five-link 3-D biped, to computationally investigate the cause and function of gait asymmetry. We show that for a range of slope angles during passive 2-D walking and mass distributions during controlled 3-D walking, these models have asymmetric walking patterns between the left and right legs due to the phenomenon of spontaneous symmetry-breaking. In both cases a stable asymmetric family of gaits emerges from a symmetric family of gaits as the total energy increases (e.g., fast speeds). The ground reaction forces of each leg reflect different roles, roughly corresponding to support, propulsion, and motion control as proposed by the hypothesis of functional asymmetry in able-bodied human walking. These results suggest that body mechanics, independent of neurophysiological mechanisms such as leg dominance, may contribute to able-bodied gait asymmetry.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 6148264 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1310-1318 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2012 |
Funding
Manuscript received July 14, 2011; revised December 17, 2011; accepted January 16, 2012. Date of publication February 7, 2012; date of current version April 20, 2012. This project was supported by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) through Grant Number 3UL1 RR025741. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. This research was also supported by NSF under Grant IIS-1018167 and Grant IIS-08030826. Asterisk indicates corresponding author.
Keywords
- Bifurcation
- biological system modeling
- dynamics
- gait asymmetry
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biomedical Engineering