1 research outputs found
Evaluating the Effect of Crutch-using on Trunk Muscle Loads
As a traditional tool of external assistance, crutches play an important role
in society. They have a wide range of applications to help either the elderly
and disabled to walk or to treat certain illnesses or for post-operative
rehabilitation. But there are many different types of crutches, including
shoulder crutches and elbow crutches. How to choose has become an issue that
deserves to be debated. Because while crutches help people walk, they also have
an impact on the body. Inappropriate choice of crutches or long-term misuse can
lead to problems such as scoliosis. Previous studies were mainly experimental
measurements or the construction of dynamic models to calculate the load on
joints with crutches. These studies focus only on the level of the joints,
ignoring the role that muscles play in this process. Although some also take
into account the degree of muscle activation, there is still a lack of
quantitative analysis. The traditional dynamic model can be used to calculate
the load on each joint. However, due to the activation of the muscle, this
situation only causes part of the load transmitted to the joint, and the work
of the chair will compensate the other part of the load. Analysis at the muscle
level allows a better understanding of the impact of crutches on the body. By
comparing the levels of activation of the trunk muscles, it was found that the
use of crutches for walking, especially a single crutch, can cause a large
difference in the activation of the back muscles on the left and right sides,
and this difference will cause muscle degeneration for a long time, leading to
scoliosis. In this article taking scoliosis as an example, by analyzing the
muscles around the spine, we can better understand the pathology and can better
prevent diseases. The objective of this article is to analyze normal walking
compared to walking with one or two crutches using OpenSim software to obtain
the degree of activation of different muscles in order to analyze the impact of
crutches on the body