On the analysis of knee biomechanics using a wearable biomechatronic device

In this paper a wearable biomechatronic system (named MEKA) for the analysis of knee movements in two degrees of freedom is presented. The system has been designed in order to be used not only in laboratory environment (as many other commercial systems) but also in real-life conditions (e.g. for experiments on sport biomechanics). The performance of the MEKA device and of two commercial systems (an electrogoniometer and a camera-based motion analyzer) has been compared. The results showed that the MEKA system is able to obtain similar or even better performance during movements. After this preliminary assessment phase, the MEKA system has been used to analyse the modifications of motor performance of elderly and young people during gait using a "dual-task" approach. The results show that elderly people seems to be more affected by the increase cognitive efforts. In conclusion, the MEKA system seems to be able to provide interesting information for experiments on biomechanics and motor control.