Joint forces in the human pelvis-leg skeleton during walking.

For the calculation of the forces in the hip, knee and ankle joints during walking the knowledge of the three-dimensional movements of the human body and of the forces between foot and ground is a prerequisite. It is shown how this information may be obtained and what accuracy is obtainable. For the calculation of the statically indeterminate system of the lower limbs, consisting of muscles, bones and joints an optimization method is applied. The optimization criterion is the minimization of the muscle forces. Measurements were taken with seventeen male and five female persons. The maximum joint forces are plotted against gait speed, body weight and body size. In addition some statistical distributions are presented.