Clinical Biomechanics

One major area that clinical biomechanists investigate is injuries. A major research topic in this area is the difference between barefoot and shod (wearing shoes) running. Here are two videos showing how a person’s foot makes contact when they are wearing shoes or not. The graphs show the difference in the forces beneath the runner’s foot. The red line represents the force while barefoot and the blue line represents the force while wearing shoes.

Here’s an example of a person running. We can also view the vertical and sideways ground forces. Pretty cool! – courtesy of the Spaulding National Running Center, Harvard Medical School.

These jump-landing and squatting videos from ACL reconstructed patient 6 months after surgery. Notice the asymmetry between limbs even though the patient was cleared to return to sport participation. These videos are from Robin Queen, Virginia Tech.

These videos are from a total ankle replacement. The first video shows the pre-operation walking ability of the patient and the second video shows the same person 2 years after surgery. These videos are from Robin Queen, Virginia Tech.