On the modeling of biomechanical systems for human movement analysis: a narrative review

Abstract

The rising importance of movement analysis led to the development of more complex biomechanical models to describe in detail the human motion patterns. The models scaled from simplistic two-dimensional to three-dimensional representations of body including detailed joint, muscle, tendon, and ligament models. Different computational methodologies have been proposed to extend traditional kinematic and dynamic analysis to include not only the evaluation of muscle forces but also the action of the central nervous system. Hence, a large number of models varying in complexity and target application are available in literature. This narrative review aims to provide an overview of the modeling of biomechanical systems used for the analysis of human movement within the framework of multibody dynamics, for those enrolled in engineering, clinical, rehabilitation and sports applications. The review includes detailed and generic models, as well as the main methodologies applied to model muscle activation and contraction dynamics. Numerous skeletal, musculoskeletal and neuromusculoskeletal models with variable degrees of complexity, accuracy and computational efficiency were identified. An important remark is that the most suitable model depends on the study objectives, detail level of the depicted anatomical structures, target population or performed motion. Summarizing, biomechanical systems have evolved remarkably during the last decades. Such advances allowed to gain a deep knowledge on how the human nervous system controls the movement during different activities, which has been used not only to optimize motor performance but also to develop solutions that allow impaired people to regain motor function in cases of disability, among other applications.