Experimental study of military crawl as a special type of human quadripedal automatic locomotion

Abstract

The biomechanics of military crawl locomotion is poorly covered in scientific literature so far. Crawl locomotion may be used as a testing procedure which allows for the detection of not only obvious, but also hidden locomotor dysfunctions. The aim of the study was to investigate the biomechanics of crawling among healthy adult participants. Eight healthy adults aged 15–31 (four women and four men) were examined by means of a 3D kinematic analysis with Optitrack optical motion-capture system which consists of 12 Flex 13 cameras. The movements of the shoulder, elbow, knee, and hip joints were recorded. A person was asked to crawl 4 m on his/her belly. The obtained results including space-time data let us characterize military crawling in terms of pelvic and lower limb motions as a movement similar to walking but at a more primitive level. Progressive and propulsive motions are characterized as normal; additional right–left side motions—with high degree of reciprocity. It was found that variability of the left-side motions is significantly lower than that of the right side (Z = 4.49, p < 0.0001). The given normative data may be used as a standard to estimate the test results for patients with various pathologies of motor control (ataxia, abasia, etc.).