Thigh-Calf and Heel-Gluteus Contact Forces in High Flexion (Experimental Results)

Details

• Personal Author:
  Pollard, Jonisha P.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Description:
  In restricted vertical working heights such as low-seam coal mines, workers are forced to assume kneeling or squatting postures to perform work. These postures are associated with increased risks for the development of significant knee pathologies such as meniscal tears and osteoarthritis [1,2]. Previous research has shown an increased applied knee flexion moment when kneeling in high flexion [3]. However, these models have been applied to flexion up to 140° which neglects contact between the thigh and calf which occurs beyond 140°. In addition to thigh-calf contact, when kneeling near full flexion there may be additional contact between the heel and gluteal muscles. To the author’s knowledge, heel-gluteus contact has not been previously investigated, but thigh-calf contact has received some attention. Zelle (2007) reported thigh-calf contact forces up to 30% bodyweight (BW) [4]. Zelle (2009) reported decreased knee forces when accounting for thigh-calf contact [5]. Caruntu (2003) reported erroneous force and moment estimations when thigh-calf contact was neglected from models to determine muscle and ligament forces [6]. In this study thigh-calf and heel-gluteus contact forces were quantified to determine their effect on the externally applied flexion moment in high flexion.
• Subjects:
  Mining
• Source:
  Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, August 26-29, 2009, State College, Pennsylvania. Newark, DE: The American Society of Biomechanics, 2009 Aug; :1-2
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Conference Publications
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20035944
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5a2dcb6cb18a334b0d4b3a00d69f4b7c28cf9e90ca9fdab16e69265399559d72bb96f8554d7c46e19acd942958dc4153f8d62b5d0f3a2c084540898daa7576da
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/9945/cdc_9945_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 63.24 KB ]