Optimal Estimation of Human Body Segments Dynamics Using Realtime Visual Feedback

Mass parameters of the human body segments are mandatory when studying motion dynamics. In orthopedics, biomechanics and rehabilitation they are of crucial importance. Inaccuracies their value generate errors in the motion analysis, misleading the interpretation of results. No systematic method to estimate them has been proposed so far. Rather, parameters are scaled from generic tables or estimated with methods inappropriate for in-patient care. Based on our previous works, we propose a real-time software and its interface that allow to estimate the whole-body segment parameters, and to visualize the progresses of the completion of the identification. The visualization is used as a visual feedback to optimize the excitation and thus the identification results. The method is experimentally tested and obtained results are discussed.