Mechanical Modeling of Tibial Axial Accelerations Following Impulsive Heel Impact

TL;DRAbstract

A fourth order mass/spring/damper (MSD) mechanical model with linear coefficients was used to estimate axial tibial accelerations following impulsive heel impacts. A generic heel pad with constant stiffness was modeled to improve the temporal characteristics of the model. Subjects ( n = 14) dropped (~5 cm) onto a force platform (3 trials), landing on the right heel pad with leg fully extended at the knee. A uni-axial accelerometer was mounted over the skin on the anterior aspect of the medial tibial condyle inferior to the tibial plateau using a Velcro™ strap (normal preload ~45 N). Model coefficients for stiffness (k 1 , k 2 ) and damping (c 1 , c 2 ) were varied systematically until the minimum difference in peak tibial acceleration (%PTA min ) plus maximum rate of tibial acceleration (%RTA max ) between the estimated and measured curves was achieved for each trial. Model responses to mean subject and mean group model coefficients were also determined. Subject PTA and RTA magnitudes

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