Shape of an obstacle affects the mediolateral trajectory of the lower limb during the crossing process

Yuka Miura; Kohei Yoshimoto; Masahiro Shinya

doi:10.3389/fspor.2023.1130332

Shape of an obstacle affects the mediolateral trajectory of the lower limb during the crossing process

Front Sports Act Living. 2023 Aug 11:5:1130332. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2023.1130332. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yuka Miura^{1

2}, Kohei Yoshimoto², Masahiro Shinya¹

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
² Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

In previous studies involving obstacle crossing, vertical foot clearance has been used as an indicator of the risk of contact. Under normal circumstances, individuals do not always cross over obstacles with the same height on both sides, and depending on the shape of the obstacle, the risk of contact may differ depending on the foot elevation position. Therefore, we investigated whether task-related control of the mediolateral foot position is adapted to the shape of the obstacle. Sixteen healthy young adults performed a task in which they crossed over two obstacles with different shapes while walking: a trapezoidal obstacle and a rectangular obstacle, as viewed from the frontal plane. It was shown that when crossing over a trapezoidal obstacle, the participants maintained foot clearance by controlling the mediolateral direction, which chose the height that needed to be cleared. The results of this study suggest that the lower limb movements that occur during obstacle crossing are controlled not only in the vertical direction but also in the mediolateral direction by adjusting the foot trajectory to reduce the risk of contact. It was demonstrated that control was not only based on the height of the obstacle directly under the foot but also in the foot mediolateral direction, considering the shape of the entire obstacle, including the opposite limb.

Keywords: clearance; lower limb; mediolateral trajectory; obstacle avoidance; shape of obstacle.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the following grants. MEXT KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid, Grant Number: 21H05334 (MS), the Tateisi Science and Technology Foundation (YM, MS), and the JST SPRING, Grant Number JPMJSP2132 (YM).