title: Investigation of a passive inter-limb device on step-to-step transition of human walking.
abstract: In walking like an inverted pendulum, the step-to-step transition period requires a substantial amount of simultaneous positive and negative mechanical work to redirect the center of mass between steps and it was considered as a major determinant of gait in terms of metabolic expenditure. In the current study, we developed a passive inter-limb device that transfers energy between the legs during the step-to-step transition period. By effectively transferring the energy dissipated at heel-strike from the leading leg to the trailing leg which is performing push-off, we hypothesize that the mechanical cost of transport (COT) will be reduced. Consequently, the lower limb muscles are required to do less positive and negative work, resulting in a reduced metabolic COT. Data from five subjects walking at 1.2m/s on an instrumented treadmill with the device active and passive was collected. It was found that the mechanical COT during the step-to-step transition period was reduced when walking with the device active. However, contrary to our hypothesis the metabolic COT increased when walking with the device active.
authors.forename: Jun-tian
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qingguo
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012656:Self-Help Devices; D016138:Walking; D055815:Young Adult