Multibody dynamics-based musculoskeletal modeling for gait analysis: a systematic review.
Muhammad Abdullah, Abdul Aziz Hulleck, Rateb Katmah and 2 others
PMID 39369227WHAT IT FOUND
Multibody musculoskeletal models can estimate internal joint forces and muscle activity from walking data, but clinical use is limited by bulky equipment, imperfect personalization, and limited validation.
Key findings
01The review included 116 articles on instrumented gait analysis using musculoskeletal modeling.
02Across the included studies, 82.76% used OpenSim, 86.21% used optical motion capture, and 62.93% used force plates.
03MSK modeling uses motion capture, ground reaction force data, and muscle activity data to calculate joint reaction forces, joint moments, and muscle forces.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
This is a systematic review of modeling methods and applications, not a randomized trial or a study of patient outcomes. The review says clinical use is limited by bulky motion capture equipment, force plates that can alter natural gait, difficulty personalizing models, and lack of in vivo validation data. Many generic models are based on male anatomy, and the review notes that 57.75% of studies used male-based models to simulate female gait. Different software and models can produce different joint force estimates, so the review says model choice should match the specific question.
Declared interests
Khalifa University funded the work. The supplied text does not report author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the model outputs as direct measurements or as proof that an intervention works. The review says clinical use is limited by equipment, personalization, and lack of in vivo validation.