Abstract
Taking two crutches, which have different shapes of the tip, we investigated the effect of the shape of crutch on energy consumption during crutch gait. We carried out experiments using motion capture system. We calculated an energy consumption and upper limb load by 2D model using experimentally measured data. From the result, we found a greate difference in energy consumption. Energy consumption decreased by 56.4% by using a crutch with a special shape. This reason was investigated with respect to the movement of the contact point of crutch and floor and force applied at the contact point.
