Investigation of the Mechanical Role of the Principal External-Force-Transmitting Parts of

Abstract

The forces in walking, which are transmitted by the heel, the balls of the first and fifth metatarsal heads and the big toe, were measured by means of small transducers which can measure the vertical and sagittal forces, and the mechanical roles of these skeletal parts in external force transmission were analysed. The force measurements were carried out at various speeds of walking, indicated by the unaware stride frequencies. At the beginning of the stance phase, the heel collides with the ground, producing a sharp and fairly large force. But it may vary, depending on the hardness of the ground. The heel bears only about a half of the whole force in the earlier half of the stance phase in usual walking, but its magnitude and relative rate become higher in fast walking. The other part of the whole force is transmitted from the metatarsal heads. In the later half of the stance phase, the whole force is transmitted from the metatarsal heads and toes. The first metatarsal heads transmits the largest part. The big toe seems to play an important role in acceleration, together with the other toes, especially in the case of fast walking.