Validation Of The Small Damped Oscillation Method For The Determination Of The Moment Of Inertia Of Human Lower Leg

The present investigation involves the validation of a technique for the determination of the moment of inertia of human lower leg and of the damping coefficient of the knee joint. A method based upon the theory of small damped oscillations of a system about its equilibrium position is used to measure the moment of inertia of human lower leg. This method, in contrast with the others, is simple and does not require highly sophisticated instrumentation. The validation of this method is performed using a cylinder of known moment of inertia and the small oscillation apparatus (SOA). The results obtained were highly reproducible, however, the average difference between the known moment of inertia and that measured was less than 15%.