Assessment of two musculoskeletal models in children with crouch gait

Abstract

Musculoskeletal modelling could be a potential tool in diagnosis and treatment design. In particular, in children with cerebral palsy, it is thought that gait modelling and simulation could contribute to improve clinical decisions. Nevertheless, the models used to simulate crouch gait are not as accurate as necessary to bring the results into the clinic. In this study, two models proposed in the literature are compared. The results showed differences in joints moments and in the static optimization process possibly caused by differences in estimations of anthropometric segment inertial values and the use of different cost functions, respectively. However, both models provided good agreement with the recorded EMG data.