OVERVIEW

The course is designed to provide an introduction to biomechanics  with emphasis on understanding whole body movements. These concepts are meant to provide the basis of understanding the biomechanics of physical activity. Applications of these concepts in fields such as athletic training, physical therapy, sports science, and human factors will be discussed. A specific focus will be maintained on the specific movement patterns related to different stages of life (infants, adults, elderly)

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of the course, it is expected that students should be able to:

• Identify the fundamental mechanical principles involved in human movement
• Apply biomechanical principles to improve performance and/or reduce injury
• Apply biomechanical principles to understand movement patterns that characterize different stages of life.
• Know the instrument available to evaluate kinetic and kinematic performance
• Perform basic 2D biomechanical analysis of different human movements from video
• Summarize and interpret findings from articles published in biomechanics journals

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the course the student should be able to:

• Apply the basic principle of mechanics to the human movement
• Apply the biomechanics principle to improve performance and/or reduce injuries
• Describe movement patterns through the life span
• Use the available instruments to measure kinematic and kinetic performance
• Execute a 2D biomechanical analysis from video sequences
• Define a research/rehabilitation protocol exploiting the instrumentation for movement analysys

TEACHING METHODS

Frontal classes and activities in the movement analysis lab

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Reminders on kinematic 

Reminders on kinetic 

Instrumentation for measuring kinetic and kinematic performance

Stereophotogrammetry: calibration, acquisition, and reconstruction. Errors: instrumental, anatomical landmarks mislocation, and soft tissue artifact. Experimental protocols.

Electromyography: physiology of the signal, recording and acquiring, analyzing and interpreting.

Force Platform: force transducers, processing force platform signals, center of pressure, combining force platform data.

Inertial Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, calibration, IMU.

Experimental activity in a movement analysis lab.

Analysis movements, force and posture (equilibrium) and their  neural control (muscle activities etc) at different stages of life and during different sport activities/exercises.

Introduction to the personal project

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Materials and  readings will be distributed via the course website.

Additional readings:

1. Giovanni Legnani e Giacomo Palmieri. "Fondamenti di Meccanica e Biomeccanica del Movimento",2016. Città Studi Edizioni.
2. Boccardi, Cinesiologia , società editrice Univers
3. Cappello, A. Cappozzo, P. di Prampero, “Bioingegneria della postura e del movimento”, Patron Editore
4. McGinnis, P. (2013). Biomechanics of Sport and Exercise With Web Resource and MaxTRAQ 2D Software Access (3rd ed.). Champaign, P.Grimshaw, A. Lees, N. Fowler, A. Burde, “Sport and Exercise Biomechanics”, Taylor & Francis
5. Hall, S. (2012). Basic Biomechanics (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
6. Hamill, J., & Knutzen, K. (2008). Biomechanical Basis of Human Movement (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
7. Knudson, D. (2007). Fundamentals of Biomechanics (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
8. Nordin, M., & Frankel, V. (2012). Basic Biomechanics of the Musculoskeletal System (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
9. Ozkaya, N., Nordin, M., Goldsheyder, D., & Leger, D. Fundamentals of Biomechanics: Equilibrium, motion, and deformation (3rd ed). New York, NY: Springer

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

CATERINA ANSUINI (President)

EMANUELA LUISA FAELLI (President)

LUIGI MOLFETTA (President)

CARLO TROMPETTO (President)

ANDREA CANESSA (President and Coordinator of Integrated Course)

LESSONS

Class schedule

BIOMECHANICS AND BIOENGINEERING

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The final exam will consist in a oral exam where the student will present her/his research project previously defined with the teacher during the lessons

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral exam will focus mainly on the topics covered during the lectures and will aim to evaluate not only if the student has reached an adequate level of knowledge, but has acquired the ability to critically analyze problems related to biomechanics and motion analysis that will be placed during the examination.