Reproducibility of Knee Movement Analyses during the Stance Phase Using the Anatomical Landmarks Calibration

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to verify the reproducibility within a session and between sessions of the knee joint movement and moment during the stance phase using the Anatomical Landmarks Calibration. [Subjects] The study subjects were five healthy adults. [Methods] The subjects walked along a 10-m walkway. Reflective markers were attached to each subject’s anatomical landmarks on the right lower extremity. Moreover, rigid plates with three attached reflective markers were placed on the lateral side of the thigh and shank. The anatomical landmarks presumed by the thigh and shank clusters were used for the knee angle and joint moment calculations. To check the reproducibility of the joint angles and moments, coefficients of multiple correlations (CMCs) and standard errors of measurement (SEMs) were computed. [Results] The CMCs of abduction–adduction and internal–external rotation of the knee joint between sessions were lower than those within a session, while the SEMs were larger. Regarding the knee joint moment, all the subjects showed larger SEMs between sessions than within a session. [Conclusions] The present results suggest that it is important to identify the attachment positions of the reflective markers to obtain good reproducibility for knee joint angle changes.