Biomechanical approach in facilitating long-distance
walking of healthy elderly people
WCC Lee1,2, AKL Leung1, M
Zhang1
1 Interdisciplinary Division of
Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
2School of Mechanical, Materials,
Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong,
Australia
1. Regular walking gives tremendous health benefits
to elderly people.
2. Gait analysis has been used to evaluate effectiveness of assistive devices on gait of people with neuro-musculoskeletal disorders, but seldom to facilitate long distance walking of healthy elderly people.
3. Our comprehensive gait analysis has revealed biomechanical reasons for lack of walking among elderly people.
4. Changing the forces applied to the lower limbs during walking using modified insoles addresses the biomechanical problem and shows signs of improving ability to walk long distances.
2. Gait analysis has been used to evaluate effectiveness of assistive devices on gait of people with neuro-musculoskeletal disorders, but seldom to facilitate long distance walking of healthy elderly people.
3. Our comprehensive gait analysis has revealed biomechanical reasons for lack of walking among elderly people.
4. Changing the forces applied to the lower limbs during walking using modified insoles addresses the biomechanical problem and shows signs of improving ability to walk long distances.