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HomeLimb/Eye DominanceMouck

The Mouck Method for Gait Analysis & Path Deviation Study

by Mike Mouck

Part I - Introduction, Definitions and Shorthand Notation

(A) Introduction


A3. The Step Model and Footfall Plots

The Step Model shows the body orientation at the instant of heel-contact, at the end of the step. It can be used to make footfall plots which re-create any 2D step or path characteristic.

Also, many things are shown in the Step Model itself, so much (most) is gained just looking at the model, without the need to make plots.

But, the footfall plots are a very revealing part of the system. And very easy to make, despite the apparent weight of the instructions. They're used to predict path characteristics, given specific input, and should help greatly in the design of experimental protocols.

If you start at a standard position on the page and type in all the dimensions and co-ordinates for making the specific models, it gets to be a very simple process. And, if the same base model is used (ie., identical linear parameters), it's a matter of seconds to produce test models.

The only rotation points are the step-heel-point for rotating the step-foot model (for foot angle), and the step-pelvic joint for the rotation of the step-out-line/step-foot model (for foot offset). 3 models per series can give most of the information, and one standard model is all that's required for the 3, if only looking at direction parameters. All of the direction changes are accounted for by rotating the whole model, then aligning appropriate heel-points, and any changes of linear parameters are taken care of when making the model.

Modeling using the Step Model could be a big area. Since the procedure is exactly the same for all plots, a computer program would be ideal to generate standard plots. This would be an extraordinary project. And, actually relatively simple, though a lot of details.

The final program would be very useful to facilitate application to the diverse areas of gait research. It will allow the generation of correlation tables for variations of the fundamental parameters, wrt each other as well as other factors, like step and stride-line. This will simplify the analysis of real footfall patterns. It would also form the base program for integration of the 3rd dimension, and other elements, in multi-D gait analysis programs.

When applied to real data, it’s the reverse of standard plotting. The data gives the Step Models for each step, then each model is examined in detail.

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Index    Forward    Part I    Part II    Part III    Part IV    Part V
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