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Biomechanical Analysis of Spine Hinge During Squats Using Inertial Sensors

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Abstract

Purpose

To compare the spine hinge evaluated by sacral inertial measurement unit (IMU) versus both lumbar and sacral IMUs and to assess the influence of clinical variables on the spine hinge.

Methods

The study included 20 healthy participants (10 men and 10 women) and 18 participants (6 men and 12 women) with low back pain. Participants performed a bodyweight squat with IMU sensors attached to the lumbar spine, sacrum, and lateral thigh. The spine hinge was evaluated by two methods: lumbosacral hinge (LS hinge), defined as an abrupt increase in LS flexion, and sacral hinge, defined as a change in sacral direction from forward to backward. The amount of and ratio (LS ratio) between sacral and lumbar rotations were evaluated.

Results

The spine hinge detected only from the sacral IMU showed a high degree of agreement with that detected from both IMUs. The LS hinge occurred at a lower depth in females than in males (p = 0.001). Females had greater sacral rotation (p = 0.012) and a higher LS ratio (p < 0.001) than males. A larger passive hip flexion range was associated with later LS hinge occurrence in females (p = 0.041) but not in males (p = 0.965). Trunk muscle strength and presence of low back pain were not significant in either sex.

Conclusion

IMUs can detect the squat depth when the spine hinge occurs. A single sacral IMU is sufficient to detect the spine hinge. The movement patterns differ between sexes during squats, which should be considered to achieve the optimal squat depth.

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Data availability

The datasets generated or analyzed during the study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Sung Pill Kim for the assistance in the application of the Kalman filter algorithm and calculation of the Cardan angles.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (Grant No. NRF- 2022R1C1C1006057) and a grant of the Patient-Centered Clinical Research Coordinating Center (PACEN) funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (Grant No. HC21C0064).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea

    Hee Soo Kim, Youngbin Kwak, Sun Gun Chung & Keewon Kim

  2. Interdisciplinary Program of Bioengineering, Seoul National University Graduate School, Seoul, Korea

    Chiyul Yoon

  3. Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, Medical Research Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Hee Chan Kim

  4. Seoul National University College of Medicine, 103 Daehak-Ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea

    Keewon Kim

  5. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chung-Ang University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Myung Woo Park

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Correspondence to Keewon Kim.

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Ethics approval

The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Seoul National University Hospital (IRB approval number: D-1008-134-330). This study was conducted in accordance with the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki.

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No authors report conflicts of interest within the scope of the submitted work.

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Kim, H.S., Kwak, Y., Park, M.W. et al. Biomechanical Analysis of Spine Hinge During Squats Using Inertial Sensors. J. Med. Biol. Eng. 43, 394–404 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-023-00806-y

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