Induced acceleration and power analyses of human motion

Abstract

Induced acceleration and power analyses are tools that are used to determine principles of muscle coordination and the functional roles of muscles during movement. This chapter describes how these analyses are performed using an underlying musculoskeletal model and movement simulation. Induced acceleration analyses use the dynamic equations of motion of the musculoskeletal system to determine the effects of individual muscles, and other modeled actuators, on the body's movement, such as the acceleration of specific joints and/or the body's mass center. Induced power analyses build upon induced acceleration analyses to evaluate mechanical power that is generated to, absorbed from, and/or transferred between body segments and can reveal how muscles work together to achieve a dynamic task. Examples of application of induced acceleration and power analyses to human performance and clinical questions are provided. In addition, limitations of these analyses and potential impacts on the interpretation of the results are discussed. Future directions include the use of induced acceleration and power analyses with improved accuracy of musculoskeletal models and computational approaches to distill large quantities of information into clinical decision-making.