Technology & Engineering
Human Biomechanics
Human biomechanics is the study of the mechanical aspects of the human body, including how muscles, bones, and joints work together to produce movement. It involves analyzing forces, motion, and energy to understand human performance and injury prevention. By applying principles of physics and engineering, biomechanics helps in designing equipment and technologies to enhance human movement and function.
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11 Key excerpts on "Human Biomechanics"
eBook - PDFBiomechanics of the Upper Limbs
Mechanics, Modeling and Musculoskeletal Injuries, Second Edition
- Andris Freivalds(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
1 1 Introduction to Biomechanics 1.1 What Is Biomechanics? Biomechanics is mechanics, the science that deals with forces and their effects, applied to biological systems. Traditionally, this has meant the human body at a relatively macro level. However, there need not be any such limitations, since any life form can be studied at any level. More recently, perhaps because of the interest in the development of new drugs and measuring their effects on the body, biomechanical studies have progressed down to the level of a single cell. This book, though, will focus exclusively on the human body and the upper limbs. Although biomechanics is based solidly on the principles of physics and mathematics developed in the 1600s and 1700s by Galileo, Newton, Descartes, Euler, and others, the first biomechanical observations as related to the function of the muscle and bones of the human body were made already in the early 1500s by Leonardo da Vinci. Borelli, a student of Galileo, published the first treatise on biomechanics, De Motu Animalium , in 1680. Later in the 1700s, Ramazzini, whom many consider the first occupational physician, described in detail the forceful and extreme motions in butchering and other jobs leading to the development of musculoskeletal disorders and other diseases. More recent advances that laid much of the groundwork for later human modeling include Braune and Fischer (1889), Fischer (1906), and A.V. Hill’s 50 years of detailed stud-ies on muscle mechanics, ultimately culminating in a Nobel prize in 1922. The cross-over of biomechanics into ergonomics, the science that deals with fitting work to the human operator, probably started with E.R. Tichauer using biomechanical principles to redesign tools for the workplace in the early 1970s.
eBook - PDFOccupational Ergonomics
Theory and Applications, Second Edition
- Amit Bhattacharya, James D. McGlothlin(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
It was not until recently that the principles of biomechanics were applied to a systematic study of human performance in the work environment. Applied biomechanics forms the primary structure of occupational ergonomics, dealing with characterization of the loading of the musculoskeletal system. From the simple lever system that helps in quantitating the loading of the musculoskeletal system due to manual lifting of a weight, to complex measurements of interdiscal pressure to estimate the load-ing of the spinal unit, biomechanics helps us explain and improve a number of ergonomic problems and is a rapidly expanding field of study. Occupational biomechanics is applied in the determination of the bone–muscle-joint loading of the worker due to his or her 4.3.6.3 Intradiscal Pressure 134 4.3.6.4 Biomechanical Aspect of Back Pain 134 4.3.7 Center of Gravity 135 4.3.8 Link-Segment Model 137 4.4 Biomechanical Criteria for Ergonomic Applications 142 References 143 Biomechanical Aspects of Body Movement ◾ 105 interaction with tools, equipment, and the workplace. It also provides scientific guidelines for developing new tools that will reduce musculoskeletal disorders and for developing and modifying workstations to reduce worker discomfort. Progress in computer tech-nology has allowed the development of computer models for predicting musculoskeletal loading associated with the performance of certain tasks. It allows, through the use of these models, the development of safe weight-lifting limits, chair design, and workplace layouts to conform to the specific working population. Since occupational biomechanics combines engineering concepts and the laws of physics with medicine, a multidisciplinary approach is required with expertise from a number of other fields, including bioinstrumentation, kinesiology, physiology, engineering, occupational therapy, rehabilitation engineering, and several other allied fields.
eBook - PDF- John R. Wilson, Sarah Sharples, John R. Wilson, Sarah Sharples(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
512 References ...................................................................................................................................... 512 488 Evaluation of Human Work INTRODUCTION Biomechanics is the study of forces generated by and acting on the human body. This field of study is used in the ergonomics/human factors (E/HF) field most often to assess manual handling tasks and other tasks that require generating forces both internal and external to the body. This chapter outlines the types of task for which a biomechanical analysis is or is not an appropriate method, details an overview of the tools required to carry out an analysis and describes various methods and models used in the field along with their advantages and disad-vantages. This chapter focuses on the fundamental concepts and calculations that are required to perform a biomechanical analysis as biomechanical models and the requisite equipment are constantly evolving. When interpreting results of a biomechanical analysis, we come to the questions of (1) how valid are the simplifying assumptions and approximations that are made in the analysis, (2) how robust are the results of the analysis and (3) what are our criteria for ‘safe’ levels of force and how reliable are they? Just as the approach used to estimate forces on the body is important for a reasonably valid estimate, the interpretation of these results is also critical. R ELEVANT T ASKS Biomechanics is a useful tool in most manual handling situations, whether people are lifting, lower-ing, pushing, pulling or even when no load is handled but the body’s own weight is creating postural stress. Powered and non-powered tool use is another type of work suited for biomechanical analysis. In general, however, applications involving tools are often focused on high-force activities requiring gross body motions.
eBook - PDFErgonomics Process Management
A Blueprint for Quality and Compliance
- James P. Kohn(Author)
- 1998(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
It is a science that is concerned with the physiological systems of the body and how these systems function. It is the science of motion and force in living organisms. Biomechanics areas of scientific interest “include studies of range, strength, endurance, and speed of movements, and mechanical responses to such physical forces as acceleration and vibration” (Rodgers, 1983). When biomechanics is applied to a worksite analysis of ergonomic hazards, the movement and forces applied by the physiological components of workers are monitored. Job requirements can then be modified to lower internal and external forces and related stressors. It is the musculoskeletal system of the body, discussed in Chapter 2, that is the foundation of the study of biomechanics. The measurements of the dimensions of the body components (anthropometries) and their associated movement and forces (biomechanics) are the two elements that are of vital importance when analyzing potential ergonomic problems. Like anthropometries, there are two types of biomechanical measurements: 30 Ergonomic Process Management: A Blueprint for Quality and Compliance • Statics — The study of bodies remaining at rest (equilibrium) as a result of forces acting upon them • Dynamics — The study of moving bodies These two measures provide the Ergonomics team with the ability to determine how moving body components could contribute to ergonomic injuries. For example, factors such as extension of upper body extremities and the force applied by the arm, shoulder, and back muscles while performing an overhead task like hanging a ceiling, might be biomechanical areas of concern. In addition to these areas of interest, the Ergonomics team would also study the weight of each panel and other external forces or conditions (such as temperature and humidity) that would affect employee performance. In biomechanics, the measurement of primary concern is force.
eBook - PDF- Danuta Koradecka(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
Topics of research in biomechanics are widespread, from the mechanics of vegetables and fruits to complex control systems in highly developed organisms, including humans. Biomechanics is applied to describe internal phenomena, such as the forces, struc-ture, or electrical activities of muscles, as well as external phenomena, described using the analysis of motion and force characteristics. Because biomechanics is an interdisciplinary science studying the structure of the motions of living organisms, especially humans, and mainly uses the methods of mechanics, the laws of classical mechanics are applied to biomechanics—above all, the laws of motion formulated under the name of Newton’s principles of dynamics. The first principle states that a physical body will remain at rest or continue to move at a constant velocity unless an outside net force acts upon it. The second principle regards a change in the motion velocity or the momentum and states that the rate of a change in momentum is propor-tional to the force acting on the body and takes place in the direction of that force. The third principle states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. One of the basic objectives of biomechanics is to describe the position of a body and the changes to this position, namely, motion. Analysis of the motion may be based on anatomy and physiology, as well as on external observation of the motion. Etienne Jules Marey (1830–1904) and Edward James Muybridge (1830–1904) were forerunners in the analysis of motion. As early as 1882, they used a prototype of a roll of film to capture photographs in burst mode (http://www.utoledo.edu/kinesiology/ classess). Using special cameras, they photographed the various phases of motion of a galloping horse on wet collodion plates. These pictures were scientific proof that a galloping horse leaps from the ground with one leg while the other is lifted slightly.
eBook - ePub- Joel M. Haight(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Wiley-VCH(Publisher)
Part III Ergonomics and Human Factors Engineering
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Chapter 15
Biomechanics and Physical Ergonomics
Kyung-Sun Lee and Myung-Chul Jung15.1 Introduction
Work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) is common in industry (Chung, Lee, and Kee, 2003). WMSD causes pain, soft tissue disorder, and articular injury to the musculoskeletal system (Sommerich and Marras, 2006). WMSD can occur in most body parts; however, it is more frequent in the back and hand, such as back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), trigger finger, and hand–arm vibration syndrome (Putz-Anderson, 1988). The risk factors of developing WMSD include excessive strength, awkward posture, repetitive use of certain body parts, vibration, and hot and cold temperatures. WMSD accounts for 30.5% of all lost-workday injuries and illnesses in 2010, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, 2011). Hence many ergonomics researchers are trying to prevent WMSD by assessing physical workload with biomechanics.Biomechanics is the discipline which describes, analyzes, and assesses human movement on a basis of the knowledge of physics, chemistry, mathematics, physiology, and anatomy (Winter, 2009). Biomechanics concerns the mechanical behavior and component tissues of the musculoskeletal system when physical work is performed. The application of biomechanics principles is important in the prevention of WMSD to improve working conditions and performance. This chapter provides a description of some of the fundamental biomechanics of the trunk, wrist, and hand and its applications in ergonomics.15.2 Biomechanics
Biomechanical analysis of human movement can be divided into kinematics, kinetics, anthropometry, and electromyography (EMG), as shown in Figure 15.1
eBook - PDFComputational Bioengineering: Current Trends And Applications
Current Trends and Applications
- Miguel Cerrolaza, Manuel Doblare, Gabriela Martinez(Authors)
- 2004(Publication Date)
- ICP(Publisher)
2 M . Viceconti et al. science that studies the action of forces on living bodies at any scale, fiom whole body down to cells. Biomechanics is not a scientific discipline in a strict sense. Rather, it is a discipline made of other disciplines. It is defined at the border between mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, but also between medicine and engineering. Within Biomechanics coexist basic research and applied research, empiricism and rigorous application of the scientific method. Biomechanics has found a disparate range of applications, such as clinical medicine, physiology, rehabilitation, sport performance and safety, ergonomic safety and comfort, forensic medicine, just to name but a few. It is distinguished by an intensive use of enormous collections of medical imaging data, computer models, experimental and clinical measurements, and large datasets generated by simulation codes. The time- dependent character of much of the data increases substantially the volume and complexity that has to be catered for. The Biomechanics community contains a wide spectrum of researchers, from the intense technophile to the severe technophobe. In addition, these researchers need to communicate the results of their studies to the most heterogeneous user community, made of clinicians, industries, and groups of citizens with special needs or interests. In Europe the biomechanics research community is characterised, beside some notable exceptions, by a large number of small research units, strongly connected to their local context (i.e. the local hospital, or the local engineering department) but struggling to find their own space within the national research scenario. European Biomechanics still suffer form a severe fragmentation. There is a considerable separation between ergonomy biomechanics, solid mechanics biomechanics, and movement analysis biomechanics communities, just to name a few examples.
eBook - PDF- Roderick A. Macleod, Jim Corlett, Roderick A. Macleod, Jim Corlett(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter Saur(Publisher)
California, San Diego, muscle.ucsd.edu/musintro/jump.shtml • BIOMECHANICS This has been divided into general biomechanics, the biomechanics of move-ment and gait, orthopaedics, animal biomechanics and fluids. Fung, Y. C., 1993. Biomechanics: mechanical properties of living tissues. 2nd ed. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag. Fung, Y. C., 1990. Biomechanics: motion, flow, stress, and growth. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag. Fung, Y. C., 1996. Biomechanics. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag Fung, Y. C., 2001. Introduction to bioengineering. Singapore: World Scientific Pub. Co. • GAIT & MOVEMENT Braune, W . and Fischer, Ο., 1987. The human gait. Translators, Maquet, P.G.J, and Furlong, R. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag. Bronstein, B. Bronstein, A. M., and Wollacott, Μ. H., eds., (new edition due June 2004) Clinical disorders of balance, posture and gait. London: Edward Arnold. Craik, R. L. and Oatis C. Α., 1995. Gait analysis: theory and application. St Louis: Mosby. Gage, J. R., 1991. Gait analysis in cerebral palsy. Oxford: Blackwells. Gowitzke, B. A. and Milner, M., 1988. Scientific bases of human movement. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. Jones, K. and Barker, Κ., 1996. Human movement explained. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann. Kreighbaum, E. and Bartiels, Κ. M., 1996. Biomechanics - a qualitative approach for studying human movement. New York: Macmillan. Low, J. and Reed, Α., 1996. Basic biomechanics explained. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann. Nordin, Μ. and Frankel, V. Η., eds., 2001. Basic biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. -4324 B I O E N G I N E E R I N G / B I O M E D I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G Norkin, C. C. and White, D. J., 1995. Measurement of joint motion: a guide to goniometry. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Davis. Roberts, Τ. M., 1995. Understanding balance: the mechanics of posture and locomotion. London: Chapman & Hall. Sutherland, D. H., 1984. Gait disorders in childhood and adolescence.
eBook - ePubUniversal Design
Creating Inclusive Environments
- Edward Steinfeld, Jordana Maisel(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Biomechanics, like anthropometry, is an interdisciplinary field. Industrial engineers have studied biomechanics to identify strategies for reducing workplace injuries due to lifting heavy objects and cumulative trauma. They also study the parameters of comfortable seating, how tasks can be simplified to reduce effort, and the biomechanical causes of injury from accidents. Psychologists involved in this field develop instruments to measure comfort, which is a psychological construct. Physicians and biomedical engineers study biomechanics to develop new surgical procedures and develop better artificial joints. Rehabilitation therapists traditionally have studied biomechanics to develop improved therapies, assistive technologies, and environmental interventions that improve independence for people with disabilities. Exercise therapists and physiologists study stamina and strength under different conditions. Architects, interior designers, and product designers have studied how to reduce effort and increase efficiency in space layouts and use of equipment. Several professions have studied falling, including stairway falls and floor slips. Recently, urban planners and geographers have started to study related issues, such as the effect of walking distance on utilization of community services. Each focus of biomechanics research tends to have its own community of practice with a corresponding social network of organizations.Direct measurement of biomechanical effort may be completed with instruments that obtain information about muscle activity and body motion (Godfrey, Conway, Meagher, and OLaighin 2008; Marras et al. 1995). Perceptions of discomfort, pain, and effort are observed using self-report psychophysical scales—for example, scales that identify localized discomfort (Jung et al. 2010; Kyung, Nussbaum, and Babski-Reeves 2008). Ratings by trained observers may also be used to evaluate effort in completing tasks (James, Mackenzie, and Capra 2011). Epidemiological research is often used to identify the severity of problems that need biomechanical research attention (Kongsted et al. 2008; Pintar, Yoganandan, and Maiman 2010). For example, researchers may use accident reports and statistics to identify trends and frequencies of different accident types. Such research can lead to simulation studies, such as crash testing or studies that “reconstruct” accidents to identify methods to prevent or reduce injuries (Siegel et al. 2001).
No longer available |Learn more- Vivek D. Bhise(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
performance The collected data are also used to develop models to predict behavior and performance of users with different characteristics in completing different tasks The field of Human Factors Engineering is also called Human Engineering, Ergonomics, Engineering Psychology, Man–Machine Systems, or Human–Machine Interface Design After World War II, the field of Human Factors emerged in the United States, mainly among the psychologists, to study the equipment and process design problems primarily from the human information processing viewpoint The field of ergonomics emerged in the European countries around 1949 to improve workplaces and jobs in the industries with an emphasis on biomechanical applications The word “ergonomics,” the science of work laws (or the science of applying natural laws to design work), was coined by joining two Greek words “ergon” (work) and “nomos” (laws) (Jastrzebowski, 1857; Murrell, 1958) Over the past 35 years, the field covers both the physical and information processing aspects and is more commonly known as “Human Factors Engineering” or “Ergonomics” with about equal preference in the use of either name for the field
eBook - PDFBiomedical Engineering
Bridging Medicine and Technology
- W. Mark Saltzman(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
This chapter describes some elem-ents of the human body structure and mechanics. To aid in description, the chapter begins with some basic con-cepts about the mechanical properties of materials. These concepts will be used throughout the chapter to provide quantitative descriptions of the behav-ior of the biological materials that make up the human body. 04:45.1 04:36.5 04:27.8 04:19.2 04:10.6 04:01.9 03:53.3 03:44.6 03:36.0 03:27.4 1892 Time (min:sec) 1932 Year 1972 2012 A 2.1 High jump (m) 2 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.5 1920 1940 1960 Year 1980 2000 2020 B Figure 10.2 Human performance is improving with time. As evidence of the improvement in human performance, Olympic gold medal-winning performances for men ’ s 1,500-meter run ( A ) and women ’ s high jump ( B ) are plotted versus time. Surely, there are many factors in the steady improvement in these two events (which were chosen at random; a plot of any Olympic event would yield similar curves): Improvements could be because of better equipment or more able coaching, but at least part of this improvement must be caused by enhanced capability of the human machine. Figure 10.1 Humans are capable of amazing mechanical feats. Many athletic events, such as high jumping, require great strength and exquisite body control. Photograph courtesy of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. Biomedical Engineering: Bridging Medicine and Technology 414 10.2 Mechanical properties of materials Biological materials, such as bones, muscles their cells, are mechanical objects and, therefore, are subject to forces that occur because of the world around them. The human body and its components can be studied by force and moment analysis, which is among the fi rst concepts students in physics learn ( Box 10.1 ). Physical forces are present throughout the body. Some forces are large: The head of the femur regularly experiences forces that are 2 – 3 times the weight of the whole body or 1,800 – 2,700 N (for a 200-lb man).
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