Fundamentals of

Biomechanics

Basic Anatomical
Terminology
Common language referring to body
structures and their functions
Anatomists use standard anatomical
position and special vocabulary in relating
body parts

Copyright 2009, John Wiley &

Sons, Inc.

Body Positions

Descriptions of the human body assume a

specific stance
Anatomical position

Body upright
Standing erect facing the observer
Head and eyes facing forward
Feet are flat on the floor and forward
Upper limbs to the sides
Palms turned forward

Anatomical position
Body is upright
Terms for a reclining body

Prone position
Body is lying face down

Supine position
Body is lying face up

Copyright 2009, John Wiley &

Sons, Inc.

Regional Names

Several major regions

identified
Most principal regions
Head

Skull and face

Neck

Supports the head and attaches to

trunk

Trunk

Chest, abdomen, and pelvis

Upper limbs

Attaches to trunk (shoulder, armpit,

and arm

Lower limbs

Attaches to trunk (buttock, thigh,

leg, ankle, and foot

Directional Terms

Describe the position of one body part

relative to another
Group in pairs with opposite meaning
Anterior (front) and posterior (back)

Only make sense when used to describe a

position of one structure relative to another
The esophagus is posterior to the trachea
Knee is superior to the ankle

Copyright 2009, John Wiley &

Sons, Inc.

Directional Terms

Common Directional Terms

Anterior

Nearer to the front

of the body

Posterior

Nearer to the back

of the body

Superior

Toward the head

Inferior

Away from the

head

Common Directional Terms

Proximal

Nearer to the
attachment of a
limb to the trunk

Distal

Farther from the

attachment of a
limb to the trunk

Lateral

Farther from the

midline

Medial

Nearer to the
midline

Planes and Sections

Imaginary flat surfaces

that pass through the
body parts
Sagittal plane

A vertical plane that

divides the body into right
and left sides
Midsagittal plane divides
body into equal right and
left sides
Parasagittal plane
divides body into unequal
right and left sides

Copyright 2009, John Wiley &

Sons, Inc.

Planes and Sections

Frontal or coronal plane

Divides the body or an organ into anterior (front)
and posterior (back) portions

Transverse plane
Divides the body or an organ into superior (upper)
and inferior (lower) portions
Also called cross-sectional or horizontal plane

Copyright 2009, John Wiley &

Sons, Inc.

Planes and Sections

Copyright 2009, John Wiley &

Sons, Inc.

Planes and Sections

Oblique plane
Passes through the body
or an organ at an angle
Between transverse and
sagittal plane
Between transverse and
frontal plane

Sections
Cut of the body made
along a plane

Copyright 2009, John Wiley &

Sons, Inc.

Kinesiology

Study concerned with the musculoskeletal

analysis of human motion and the study of
mechanical principles and laws as they
relate to the study of human motion

Terminologies

Mechanics
Branch of physics concerned with the effect that
forces have on bodies and the motion produced
by those forces

Biomechanics
Principles and methods of mechanics are applied
to the structure and function of biological systems

Areas of Biomechanics

Statics
All forces acting on a body are balanced, the body
is in equilibrium

Dynamics
Bodies are subject to unbalanced
Principles of work, energy, and accelerated
motion

Kinematics
Geometry of motion
Concerned with the analytical and mathematical
descriptions of all kinds of motion

Kinetics
Considers forces that produce or change motion

Forces
Push (compression) / Pull (tension)
Equilibrium (balance)

Primary Sources of Force

Gravity or weight
Muscles
Externally applied resistances
Friction

Quantities

Scalar Quantity
Single quantities
Possess only size or amount (magnitude)

Vector Quantity
Double quantities
Cannot be describe by magnitude alone
(magnitude and direction)

Vector Analysis
Vector representation
Combination of Vectors

Resultant vector

Resolution of Vectors
Any vector may be broken down or resolved into
two component vectors

Osteokinematics

Rotatory (angular) motion

Movement of an object or segment around a fixed
axis in a curved path
Few joints in the body move around truly fixed
axes

Translatory (linear) motion

Movement of an object or segment in a straight
line
Examples:
When bone is pulled directly away from its joint or
pushed directly toward its joint
One flat surface translates along a contiguous flat
joint surface (gliding)

Curvilinear motion
Combined rotatory and translatory motion
Most common form of motion produced at a joint
Example:
Thrown ball

General plane motion

An object rotates about an axis while the axis is
translated in space by motion of an adjacent
segment
Example:
The person brings the cup to his mouth, the humerus
is translating forward while the elbow is rotating the
forearm/hand segment.

Kinematic Chains
A combination of several joints uniting
successive segments
The more distal segments can have higher
degrees of freedom than do proximal ones.

Open kinematic chain

The distal segment of the chain moves in

space

Close kinematic chain

Distal segment is fixed and proximal parts

move
Chin-up
Sitting
When a person uses the armrest of a chair to
assist in coming to the standing position
Crutch walking
Overhead trapeze
Walking ?
Stairclimbing?

Arthrokinematics
Movement of the articular surfaces in
relation to the direction of movement of the
distal extremity of the bone
(osteokinematics)
Convex-concave rule (convex-concave
paired relationship)

Movement of joint surfaces

Rolling or rocking
Subsequent point on one surface contacts a new
point on the other surface

Sliding or gliding
Same point on one surface contacts new points on
the mating surface

Spinning
Same point on one surface contacts new points on
the mating surface

Accessory motions
Movement of joint passively in translatory
motion
AKA joint play
Cannot be performed voluntarily
Requires relaxation of muscles and the
application of passive movement