Computerized posture diagnosis

The human motor function is one of the most ancient. The musculoskeletal system is the executive system that directly implements it. It provides optimal conditions for the interaction of the body with the external environment. Therefore, any deviation in the parameters of the functioning of the musculoskeletal system, as a rule, leads to a decrease in motor activity, disruption of the normal conditions of interaction of the body with the environment and, as a consequence, to disorders in the state of human health.

Knowledge of the biomechanical patterns of the musculoskeletal system functioning allows for successful management of the body's interactions with the environment to develop motor skills, prevent diseases, maintain health and create normal conditions for human life. To ensure the processes of studying the problems of the spine's biodynamics, developing the methodology of posture diagnostics, using physical methods to maintain its normal functioning and rehabilitation after injuries, surgical interventions, kinesitherapy, modern practice is in dire need of management tools and technologies. Computer technology is one of the most effective tools.

The rapid development of personal computers and video equipment in the 1990s contributed to the improvement of the means of automating the assessment of human physical development. More effective diagnostics of posture and complex high-precision measuring equipment capable of recording all the necessary parameters appeared. From this point of view, the hardware capabilities of video computer analyzers of the spatial organization of the human body under various conditions of its gravitational interactions are of great interest.

To assess the physical development of schoolchildren, it is advisable to use the technology of computer diagnostics of posture developed by us using a video computer complex. Reading the coordinates of the points of the object under study is carried out from a still frame of a videogram reproduced on a video monitor using a digital video camera. As a model of the musculoskeletal system, a 14-segment branched kinematic chain is used, the links of which correspond to large segments of the human body according to geometric characteristics, and the reference points correspond to the coordinates of the main joints.

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Biomechanical requirements for digital videography

Contrasting markers are attached to the human body at the locations of anthropometric points.

A scale object or ruler, divided into 10-centimeter colored sections, is placed in the subject's plane.

The digital video camera is placed on a tripod and is stationary at a distance of 3-5 m from the subject being filmed (the zoom function is standard).

The optical axis of the video camera lens is oriented perpendicular to the plane of the object being filmed. The snapshot mode (SNAPSHOT) is selected on the digital video camera.

The posture (position) of the subject. During measurements, the subject is in a natural, characteristic and habitual vertical posture (position) or in the so-called anthropometric body: heels together, toes apart, legs straight, stomach tucked in, arms down along the body, hands hanging freely, fingers straight and pressed to each other; the head is fixed so that the upper edge of the tragus of the auricle and the lower edge of the eye socket are in the same horizontal plane.

This pose is maintained throughout the video recording to ensure image clarity and consistency of the spatial relationship of anthropometric points.

For all types of video filming, the subject must strip down to his underwear or swimming trunks and be barefoot.

The obtained indicators:

• body length (height) - measured (calculated) from the height of the apex point above the support area;
• body length - the difference in height between the upper sternal and pubic points;
• the length of the upper limb represents the difference in height between the acromial and toe points;
• shoulder length - the difference between the heights of the shoulder and radial points;
• forearm length - the difference in height between the radial and subulate points;
• length of the hand - the difference in height between the subulate and finger points;
• the length of the lower limb is calculated as half the sum of the heights of the anterior iliac-spinous and pubic points;
• thigh length - length of the lower limb minus the height of the tibia;
• shin length - the difference in height between the upper and lower tibial points;
• foot length - the distance between the heel and end points;
• acromial diameter (shoulder width) - the distance between the right and left acromial points;
• trochanteric diameter - the distance between the most protruding points of the greater trochanters of the femurs;
• midsternal transverse diameter of the chest - the horizontal distance between the most protruding points of the lateral surfaces of the chest at the level of the midsternal point, which corresponds to the level of the upper edge of the fourth ribs;
• lower sternal transverse diameter of the chest - the horizontal distance between the protruding points of the lateral surfaces of the chest at the level of the lower sternal point;
• anteroposterior (sagittal) midsternal diameter of the chest - measured in the horizontal plane along the sagittal axis of the midsternal point;
• pelvic crest diameter - the greatest distance between two iliac crest points, i.e. the distance between the most distant points of the iliac crests;
• outer femoral diameter - the horizontal distance between the most protruding points of the upper thighs.

Automated processing of digital images is carried out using the "TORSO" program.

The algorithm for working with the program consists of four stages:

• Create a new account;
• Image digitization;
• Statistical processing of the obtained results;
• Generating a report.

Measurement and evaluation of the support-spring function of the foot is carried out using the program "Big foot", developed jointly with K.N. Sergienko and D.P. Valikov. The program can work both in the operating environment of MS Windows 95/98/ME, and in Windows NT/2000.

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