A new protocol for multi-segment trunk kinematics

There are many disorders of the trunk and spine that require rehabilitative treatment. The assessment of the effect of treatments is in most of cases performed by means of clinical examination or score systems. A reliable measurement system in the impairment dimension of trunk movement dysfunction is not yet clinically available within the motion analysis techniques. Motion of human trunk segments during activities of daily living has been described either with oversimplified models or with cumbersome techniques of isolated anatomical complex. The present study aims at assessing the amount and the consistency of natural motion at the trunk anatomical complex during locomotion and elementary oscillatory exercises by analysing this at a larger number of segments within the spine, thorax and shoulders, each assumed however to be rigid, both in 2D and 3D, as recently recommended. This should support the comprehension and interpretation of the relevant physiological motion, and be the base for future clinical analyses in impaired patients. Because a model for a reliable measure of full trunk motion at a number of separated segments has not yet been established in clinical gait analysis, a new proposal is here formulated for this purpose, as a compromise between practical issues and physiological relevance.