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TECHNICAL

NOTE

KINETIC ANALYSIS OF THE LOWER LIMBS DURING WALKING:

INFORMATION
CAN BE GAINED FROM A THREE-DIMENSIONAL

WHAT
MODEL?

Janice J. Eng and David A. Winter

Dept of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
Abstract-Kinetic
analyses (joint moments, powers and work) of the lower limbs were performed during
normal walking to determine what further information can be gained from a three-dimensional model over
planar models. it was to be determined whether characteristic moment and power profiles exist in the frontal
and transverse planes across subjects and how much work was performed in these planes. Kinetic profiles
from nine subjects were derived using a threedimensional inverse dynamics model of the lower limbs and
power profiles were then calculated by a dot product of the angular velocities and joint moments resolved in
a global reference system. Characteristic joint moment profiles across subjects were found for the hip, knee
and ankle joints in all planes except for the ankle frontal moment. As expected, the major portion of work
was performed in the plane of progression since the goal of locomotion is to support the body against gravity
while generating movements which propel the body forward. However, the results also showed that
substantial work was done in the frontal plane by the hip during walking (23% of the total work at that
joint). The characteristic joint profiles suggest defined motor patterns and functional roles in the frontal and
transverse planes. Kinetic analysis in three dimensions is necessary particularly if the hip joint is being
examined as a substantial amount of work was done in the frontal plane of the hip to control the pelvis and
trunk against gravitational forces.

INTRODUCTION

Sagittal plane kinetic analysis has been a useful tool in

understanding the mechanisms of normal and pathological
gait (Olney et al., 1991; Winter et af., 199Oa). However, the
sagittal view provides only part of the information, particularly at the hip joint where hip abductors are critical for the
balance control of the trunk in the frontal plane (MacKinnon
and Winter, 1993). Furthermore, the accuracy of motion
description especially of the hip joint, deteriorates as the
number of degrees of freedom considered is reduced due to
simplifying assumptions (Cappozzo and Gazzani, 1990). Recently, a few studies have presented individual subject profiles of joint moments in three dimensions during walking
(Apkarian et al., 1989; Kadaba et al., 1989) but only one study
has examined the inter-subject variability found in the lower
limb joint moments (Andriacchi and Strickland, 1985). No
studies have extended the power and work analysis using a
threedimensional model. This study addressed the following
questions: (a) Does a characteristic profile exist for threedimensional joint moments and powers across subjects during walking? (b) How much work is performed by the lower
limbs in the transverse and frontal planes?(c) Are the sagittal
profiles from three-dimensional analysis similar to those
reported from planar analysis?
MEmODS

AND

PROCEDURES

Nine male subjects (mean age of 22.2 yr, range 19-26;

mean mass of 77.2 kg, range 63.0-84.3: mean height of

Received

in jinulform

27 July 1994.

1798cm, range 162-186) participated in this study. The

procedures employed were approved by the University of
Waterloo Offloe of Human Research. Subjects walked along
an 11 m walkway at a self-selected pace wearing their running shoes. The principal optical axis of a frontal video
camera was set perpendicular to two sag&al video cameras
and parallel to the ground (Miller and Petak, 1973). Marker
coordinates and forceplate data were collected for one stride
at 60 and 500 Hz, respectively, and filtered using a fourthorder Butterworth, zero-lag, low-pass cut-off at 6 and 30 Hz.
respectively (Winter, 1990). Multiple sets of two-dimensional
data were used to reconstruct the three-dimensional coordinates. The RMS error of determining the three-dimensional location of a marker in a 3 x 2 x 2 m space was less
than 0.5 cm (Jian et al., 1993).
A standing posture of the subject was used to define the
transformation matrix between the external marker reference
system and the principal axes of each body segment. The
principal axes of the pelvis and feet were parallel to the global
reference system where X = anterior/posterior (API. 1
= vertical, and 2 = medial/lateral (ML). The principal !
axes of the thigh and shank extended from the hip to knee
joint, and knee to ankle joint, respectively. The principal I
axes of the thigh and shank were parallel to the global 2 axis
while the principal x axes were the cross product of the y and
z axes. The hip joint was located 30% of the inter-ASPS
distance distal to the ASIS (verticalk 36% of the inter-ASIS
distance lateral to the pelvis centre of mass (ML) (Bell er al.,
1990) and aligned with the suwrior point of the iliac crest
(AP): The knee joint was midway *between the femoral
condyles, 2.5 cm distal to the lateral femoral condyle. while
the ankle joint was midway between the malleoli. 1 cm distal
to the lateral malleolus.
Three non-collinear markers were used to track each
segment (bilateral lower limbs and pelvis). Cardan angles (an
753

154

Technical Note

x-y-z rotation sequence) were then calculated. A threedimensional inverse dynamic solution (Bresler and Frankel,
1950) was performed commencing with the most distal joint
(ankle). Mechanical joint powers were calculated from the
dot product of the joint angular velocities and joint moments
transformed in the global reference system (Robertson and
Winter, 1980). The time integral of the power curves (i.e.
work) was calculated (a) over one stride and (b) for each
power phase (two consecutive zero crossings). The work done
under each power phase was labelled by the joint (H = hip, K
= knee and A = ankle) followed by the plane@ = sagittal, F
= frontal and T = transverse) (eg. HI-S is the work done by
the hip joint for one of the power phases in the sagittal plane).
The total work over the stride was the sum of the positive
work and the absolute value of the negative work. Joint
moment and power profiles were normalized on a time base
of 100% stride and were ensemble-averaged across trials and
subjects.

RESULTS

Subjects walked at a mean velocity of 1.6 ms- (range

1.4-1.8) and at a cadence of 108 stepsmin- (range 98-115).
The major proportion of the lower limb work was done at
the hip joint with a large amount of work being done in the
sagittal plane (74% of the total hip work) and a moderate
amount (23%) in the frontal plane. In the sagittal plane, a
large HI-S generation (mean + S.D.; 0.3 + 0.1 J kg-) controlled the trunk and collapse of the stance limb, an H2-S
absorption ( - 0.12 + 0.053 J kg- *) decelerated the thigh
extension and an H3-S flexor pull-of? generation (0.14
+ 0.06 J kg-)
added
energy to the swinging limb [Fig. l(f)].
The large stance hip abductor moment countered the upper
body which was medial to the stance hip [Fig. l(a)]. The hip
power phases were a result of the hip abductor muscles
controlling the pelvis; an Hl-F absorption ( - 0.081
f 0.05 J kg-) was an eccentric control of the dropping

0.76
f
a

Frontal

0.00

la.

-0.40

-1.50

1
0

20

40

50

50

100

-0.550

20

40

50

50

100

Hi-T
I
0

20

40

50

DO

100

2.1

5
u

0.0

20

40

50

X of Strld,

50

100

20

40-

X of

5;

DO
'

Stride

Fig. 1. Hip joint moments and joint powers normalized to body mass in the frontal, transverse and sagittal
planes. The dashed line indicates one standard deviation above and below the mean. Consistent hip moment
and power profiles were found in all planes except for the transverse joint power.

100

Technical
Table

1. Means

and standard

Sagittal

Ankle
Knee
Hip

deviations

Note
of the work

Frontal

(J kg- ) over

one stride

Transverse

gent

abs

gen

abs

0.42
(0.09)*
0.11
(0.052)
0.48
(0.12)

0.10
(0.05)
0.35
(0.094)
0.14
(0.053)

0.015
(0.008)
0.035
(0.013)
0.092
(0.03)

0.014
(0.007)
0.026
(0.012)
0.10
(0.05)

*Standard
deviations
in parentheses,
N = 9 subjects.
tgen = energy generation,
abs = energy absorption.
Note: The hip joint performs substantial
work in the frontal

abs

en
0.005
(0.003)
0.008
(0.004)
0.009
(0.005)

0.006
(0.002)
0.015
(0.01)
0.022
(0.013)

Total
f3en

Total
abs

Total

0.44

0.12

0.56

0.15

0.39

0.54

0.58

0.26

0.84

plane

Frontal

;fj(2-F

2d.

-030

I
0

20

40

20

40

00

90

90

90

100

Transverse

1.2 ,U,O-s

,,:
: :
0 8

k
8

s
u

Sagittrl

0.0 -

2c.

-0.75
0

20

A0

00

X of Slrldr

80

K&S

-2.1

I
100

2f.
1

X of Strldr

Fig. 2. Knee joint moments and joint powers normalized

to body mass in the frontal, transverse and sagittal
planes. The dashed line indicates one standard deviation
above and below the mean. The dominant
power
profile was in the sagittal plane.

100

156

Technical Note

pelvis during weight acceptance while the HZF generation

(0.031 k 0.02 J kg-)
and H3-F generation
(0.057
+ 0.02 J kg-) raised the pelvis [Fig. l(d)]. In the transverse
plane, the hip moment profiles were consistent across subjects with an external rotator moment in the first half of
stance and an internal rotator moment in the second half of
stance [Fig. l(b)]. A small absorption burst (Hl-T) during
weight acceptance was a result of the external rotators which
decelerated the forward rotation of the pelvis [Fig. l(e)].
At the knee most of the work was done in the sagittal plane
(85% of the total knee work); however, a small amount (11%)
was done in the frontal plane (Table 1).The KO-S generation
(0.039 +_ 0.03 J kg- ) resulted from a small flexor action at
heel contact to ensure that the knee was in a flexed position
to absorb the impact force. The knee extensors controlled
the knee flexion (Kl-S absorption: - 0.04 f 0.3 Jkg-)
and then extended the knee (K2-S knee generation: 0.31
+ 0.3 Jkg-I).
A K3-S absorption
phase ( - 0.13
+_0.06 J kg-) resulted from the knee extensors to control
the collapsing knee while the knee flexors absorbed energy

(K4-S - 0.14 +_0.3 J kg-) to decelerate the swinging leg

[Fig. 2(f)]. During the stance phase, a stabilizing knee abductor moment in the frontal plane (via the iliotibial tract, tensor
fascia latae, and passive forces from the ligaments) countered
the adductor stress from the upper body weight passing
medial to the knee [Fig. 2(a)]. The knee angular velocity in
the frontal plane was very low which resulted in power
phases which were less than 0.030 J kg-. The transverse
plane knee profile was characterized by an external rotator
moment during the first half of stance and an internal rotator
moment during the second half [Fig. 2(b)]. These moments
resulted from the knee ligaments which reacted to the
transverse rotation generated by the active hip moments. A
small but consistent power absorption (Kl-T) occurred
during weight acceptance as a result of the passive resistance
of the knee ligaments to the internal rotation motion which
accompanies knee flexion [Fig. 2(e)].
At the ankle, the work was done mainly in the sagittal plane
(93%). The plantarflexors eccentrically controlled the forward rotation of the leg over the foot (Al-S absorption:

ODO

-0.15

-0.2s

20

40

80

80

100

3d

-I

20

40

80

80

100

20

40

00

80

100

0.010 ,

0.000
-0.050

,
-3

20

40

10

80

COO

8.0 ,

2.00 -9

AZ-S

,",

-0.50

3C.

;,

2b

40'

X of Strldr

80'

io

160

I
0

20

40

60

10

% of Strld,

Fig. 3. Ankle joint moments and joint powers normalized to body mass in the frontal, transverse and
sagittal planes. The dashed line indicates one standard deviation above and below the mean. Large
variability was found in the frontal moment and frontal and transverse powers.

100

?i

Technical Note
- 0.096 & 0.04 J kg- ) and then concentrically generated a
rapid push-off (A2-S generation: 0.39 + 0.082 J kg-) which
was the single largest generation phase of all the joints
[Fig. 3(f)]. In the frontal plane, all subjects had an evertor
moment at heel contact. Eight of the subjects then switched
to an invertor moment during midstance. During the propulsive phase, seven of the subjects exhibited an evertor moment
while two exhibited an invertor moment. The power phases
were small and highly variable for both the transverse and
frontal planes [Fig. 3(d) and (e)].

DISCUSSION
There are a number of variables (e.g. temporal, kinematic,
kinetic) that may be used to identify a characteristic pattern
during gait, but the mechanical power profile is the only
single variable which reveals the functional role of the
anatomical structures as they shorten or lengthen under
tension. Furthermore, the time integral of each power phase
(i.e. work) is a unique variable in that it quantifies, with a
single value, specific functions during the gait cycle.Although
work and power are scalar terms, the work was partitioned
into three arbitrary planes to facilitate the functional interpretation of specific events. A limitation of this technique is
that the work calculations will be underestimated if there is
simultaneous activity of the agonist and antagonist muscle
groups (i.e. co-contraction).
One would expect some variability of the results between
different investigators because of the location and orientation
of the principal axes of each segment and the location of the
joint centres. Nevertheless, the joint moment profiles were
consistent among the nine subjects and in general agreement
with other investigators (Andriacchi and Strickland, 1985;
Apkarian et a[., 1989). The exception was the ankle frontal
moment. The maximum ankle frontal moment in this study
was 1.5Nm compared to the 35-45 Nm magnitudes reported by other investigators (Andriacchi and Strickland,
1985; Apkarian et al., 1989; Kadaba et al., 1989). Since the
vertical ground reaction force virtually dominates the ankle
frontal moment during stance and the centre of pressure is
limited to about + 3 cm within either side of the ankle joint,
the maximum frontal moment cannot exceed 24 N m. in a
subject who generates a vertical ground reaction force of
800 N. Larger values may be a result oferrors in the location
of the ML joint centre or the centre of pressure. A 1 cm error
in the ankle joint location can reverse the polarity of the
moment arm of the centre of pressure to the ankle joint
centre. Some of the variability of the ankle moments may also
be a result of anatomical differences in foot structure, the
amount of toeing in or out, or the initial foot placement.
MacKinnon and Winter (1993) found that the ankle frontal
moments reflect a control strategy to fine tune the medial
acceleration of the body mass during single support.
The sagittal work values were similar to the results of
planar studies which used similar cadences (Winter, 1983,
1991; Winter et al., 1990b) except the HI-S and H2-S work
values were larger than those previously reported. These
discrepancies are probably due to the fact that this study
examined the thigh segment relative to the pelvis segment
while previous planar studies examined the thigh segment
relative to the trunk segment. Minor differences may also be
a result of projection errors which can occur in a planar
analysis or from the fact that the planar studies used joint
moments calculated about the greater trochanter. The hip
joint centre reconstructed from the anatomical landmarks
selected in this study was a maximum of 1.9 cm posterior to
the greater trochanter in the first half of stance, and 1.8 cm
anterior to the greater trochanter in the second half. Hence,
the estimated hip joint coordinate would result in larger
moment, power and work values. The relationship we found
between the trajectory of the hip joint centre and a greater

trochanter marker during walking concur with the results by

Cappozzo and Gaxxani (1998) who compared a greater
trochanter marker to a hip joint centre identified by X-ray
techniques.
Characteristic joint moment profiles were evident in the
frontal and transverse planes during normal walking which
indicate defined motor patterns and functional roles in these
planes. As expected, the major portion of work was pcrformed in the sagittal plane since the goal of locomotion is to
support the body against gravity while generating movements which propel the body forward in the plane of
progression. However, kinetic analysis in three dimensions is
necessary particularly if the hip joint is being examined as a
substantial amount of work was done in the frontal plane of
the hip to control the pelvis and trunk. For example, the H lF and H2-F phases will be important factors to quantify in
patients with osteoarthritis of the hip or hip arthrophtsty
where weak hip abductors are currently visually diagnosed as
a Trendelenburg. Although the power in the transverse plane
was low in normal subjects, such measures have potential for
elucidating some of the features in pathological gait patterns
Acknowledgements-This research was supported by MRC
# MT4343 to D. Winter. The technical assistance of M. Ishac
and P. Guy was greatly appreciated.

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