Estimation of Total Body Centre of Mass During Human Walking

Many studies have been published about human walking. The trajectory of the body centre of mass is often a parameter of interest when studying human walking, as it reflects the motion of the whole body. Alteration of trajectory of the body mass centre may indicate a clinical manifestation of an underlying pathology or only a means of maintaining stability in gait. The centre of mass, in combination with other kinematic and kinetic data, can offer useful parameters for the total evaluation of walking. Since small displacements of the body centre of mass are important in balance control studies, it is essential to obtain valid estimates of the body centre of mass. The main aim of this study was to describe two methods of estimation of total body centre of mass during walking.