Anthropometric studies of the human foot and ankle

Abstract

A study of the talocrural (ankle) and talocalcaneal (subtalar) joints was made in order to acquire as much information as possible on the exact locations of their axes of rotation . The material used was 46 cadaver legs which had the ligamentous and capsular structures intact. The study was limited to only one of the factors that influence joint motion : the shapes of the articulating surfaces. With a specially designed apparatus, the two axes were determined in each specimen. Then a series of measurements was made of the angles between these two axes and between these axes and various lines of reference in the shank and foot . Measurements were also made to determine the location of the axis of the talocrural joint with respect to anatomic landmarks on the leg. Finally, the perpendicular distance between the two joint axes was measured, and, in an attempt to determine the location of the axis of the talocalcaneal joint by means of anatomic landmarks, a ratio was calculated between two segments of a line assumed to extend from the most lateral point of the lateral malleolus to the most medial point of the medial malleolus. a This study was supported by Easter Seal Research Foundation Grant N-6618 . The apparatus for determination of the joint axes was designed and built under the sponsorship of Veterans Administration Contract V1005M-2075. b Also published as: Isman, R. E ., and Inman, V. T . : Anthropometric Studies of the Human Foot and Ankle. Biomechanics Laboratory, University of California, San Francisco and Berkeley, Technical Report 58 . San Francisco, The Laboratory, May 1968 . 33 pp. o Student, School of Dentistry ; employed under terms of Federal Work-Study Program. Director, Biomechanics Laboratory ; Professor and Chairman, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco, Calif. 94122 .