• Home
  • Aurelio Cappozzo
Aurelio Cappozzo

Aurelio Cappozzo
University of Rome Foro Italico · Interuniversity Centre of Bioengineering of the Human Neuromusculoskeletalsystem

Ph.D.

About

224
Publications
72,585
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
13,662
Citations
Additional affiliations
January 2013 - present
The Interuniversity Centre of Bioengineering of the Human Neuromusculoskeletal System
The Interuniversity Centre of Bioengineering of the Human Neuromusculoskeletal System
Position
  • Managing Director
November 2007 - present
Foro Italico University of Rome
November 2000 - November 2007
University Institute of Movement Sciences
Education
January 1979 - December 1982
University of Strathclyde
Field of study
  • Bioengineering
January 1965 - December 1970
Polytechnic of Milan
Field of study
  • Electronic Engineering

Publications

Publications (224)
Article
Full-text available
Gait analysis is recognized as a useful assessment tool in the field of human movement research. However, doubts remain on its real effectiveness as a clinical tool, i.e. on its capability to change the diagnostic-therapeutic practice. In particular, the conditions in which evidence of a favorable cost-benefit ratio is found and the methodology for...
Article
To reduce the impact of the soft tissue artefact (STA) on the estimate of skeletal movement using stereophotogrammetric and skin-marker data, multi-body kinematics optimisation (MKO) and extended Kalman filters (EKF) have been proposed. This paper assessed the feasibility and efficiency of these methods when they embed a mathematical model of the S...
Article
Estimating joint kinematics from skin-marker trajectories recorded using stereophotogrammetry is complicated by soft tissue artefact (STA), an inexorable source of error. One solution is to use a bone pose estimator based on multi-body optimisation (MBO) embedding joint constraints to compensate for STA. However, there is some debate over the effec...
Article
The position, in a pelvis-embedded anatomical coordinate system, of skin points located over the following anatomical landmarks (AL) was determined while the hip assumed different spatial postures: right and left anterior-superior and posterior-superior iliac spines, and the sacrum. Postures were selected as occurring during walking and during a fl...
Article
The Harmonic Ratio (HR) is an index based on the spectral analysis of lower trunk accelerations that is commonly used to assess the quality of gait. However, it presents several issues concerning reliability and interpretability. As a consequence, the literature provides very different values albeit corresponding to the same populations. In the pre...
Chapter
Observing, revealing the hidden structure, and understanding the human locomotor system have been a goal for artists alone at first and for both artists and scientists later. How and why this goal was achieved is illustrated in this chapter. This is done following the fil rouge of history, believing that the understanding of the phylogenesis of kno...
Chapter
Full-text available
This chapter illustrates the conceptual background underlying the in silico reconstruction of the human skeletal motion. A specific focus is given to the experimental and analytical methods that allow acquiring information related to both bone movement and morphology in vivo in the framework of rigid body mechanics. This process involves the defini...
Article
This paper presents a method for real-time estimation of the kinematics and kinetics of a human body performing a sagittal symmetric motor task, which would minimize the impact of the stereophotogrammetric soft tissue artefacts (STA). The method is based on a bi-dimensional mechanical model of the locomotor apparatus the state variables of which (j...
Conference Paper
Musculoskeletal models (MSMs), embedding multi-body optimisation algorithms, are used to predict the joint kinematics and the forces transmitted by internal structures for clinical and research purposes. They are typically driven using skinmounted marker trajectories measured with stereophotogrammetry, which are affected by the artefact movement of...
Article
Full-text available
Musculoskeletal models are widely used to estimate joint kinematics, intersegmental loads, and muscle and joint contact forces during movement. These estimates can be heavily affected by the soft tissue artefact (STA) when input positional data are obtained using stereophotogrammetry, but this aspect has not yet been fully characterised for muscle...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Soft tissue artefact (STA) compensation is the main problem when human movement is analyzed through stereophotogrammetry and optimal bone–pose estimation is required. This study aims at modelling pelvic STA as a linear combination of pelvic tilt, hip flexion–extension and ab– adduction. This model was calibrated using pelvic STA measured using a no...
Article
Full-text available
The use of multi-body optimisation (MBO) to estimate joint kinematics from stereophotogrammetric data while compensating for soft tissue artefact is still open to debate. Presently used joint models embedded in MBO, such as mechanical linkages, constitute a considerable simplification of joint function, preventing a detailed understanding of it. Th...
Article
Several approaches have been used to devise a model of the human tibio-femoral joint for embedment in lower limb musculoskeletal models. However, no study has considered the use of cadaveric 6x6 compliance (or stiffness) matrices to model the tibio-femoral joint under normal or pathological conditions. The aim of this paper is to present a method t...
Article
Full-text available
Upper body movements during walking provide information about balance control and gait stability. Typically developing (TD) children normally present a progressive decrease of accelerations from the pelvis to the head, whereas children with cerebral palsy (CP) exhibit a general increase of upper body accelerations. However, the literature describin...
Data
The age-dependence of normalized walking speed. panel A) The age-dependence of normalized walking speed in children with typical development (TD). The normalized walking speed was defined as the product of the dimensionless step length and the dimensionless step frequency. According to the literature [31], an exponential neuromaturation growth curv...
Article
Full-text available
Information from complementary and redundant sensors are often combined within sensor fusion algorithms to obtain a single accurate observation of the system at hand. However, measurements from each sensor are characterized by uncertainties. When multiple data are fused, it is often unclear how all these uncertainties interact and influence the ove...
Article
Full-text available
Objective: Inflammatory cytokines released by hypertrophic adipocytes contribute to low-grade inflammation, a characteristic of Type 2 Diabetes. Skeletal muscle contraction during physical activity stimulates the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines able to counteract this inflammatory status. The aim of this study was to review the evidence o...
Article
When stereophotogrammetry and skin-markers are used, bone-pose estimation is jeopardised by the soft tissue artefact (STA). At marker-cluster level, this can be represented using a modal series of rigid (RT; translation and rotation) and non-rigid (NRT; homothety and scaling) geometrical transformations. The NRT has been found to be smaller than th...
Article
Full-text available
In human movement analysis, 3D body segment orientation can be obtained through the numerical integration of gyroscope signals. These signals, however, are affected by errors that, for the case of micro-electro-mechanical systems, are mainly due to: constant bias, scale factor, white noise, and bias instability. The aim of this study is to assess h...
Conference Paper
Estimation of joint kinematics using optoelectronic system and skin markers can be performed using a multi-body optimization (MBO) method [1]. With the intent to estimate the bone segments pose, MBO should compensate for the effect of soft tissue artefacts (STA), thanks to a multi-body model made of segments and articulated joints (represented by a...
Article
Full-text available
As participation in wheelchair sports increases, the need of quantitative assessment of biomechanical performance indicators and of sports-and population-specific training protocols has become central. The present study focuses on junior wheelchair basketball and aims at (i) proposing a method to identify biomechanical performance indicators of whe...
Article
When joint kinematics is analysed using non-invasive stereophotogrammetry, movements of the skin markers relative to the underlying bone are regarded as artefacts (soft tissue artefact: STA). Recent literature suggests that an appropriate estimation of joint kinematics may be obtained by compensating for only a portion of the STA, but no evidence f...
Article
Full-text available
Magnetic and inertial measurement units are an emerging technology to obtain 3D orientation of body segments in human movement analysis. In this respect, sensor fusion is used to limit the drift errors resulting from the gyroscope data integration by exploiting accelerometer and magnetic aiding sensors. The present study aims at investigating the e...
Article
In computer-assisted knee surgery, the accuracy of the localization of the femur centre of rotation relative to the hipbone (hip joint centre) is affected by the unavoidable and untracked pelvic movements because only the femoral pose is acquired during passive pivoting manoeuvres. We present a dual unscented Kalman filter algorithm that allows the...
Conference Paper
Physical exercise is known to reduce the chronic inflammatory status that leads to Type 2 Diabetes. Its beneficial effects seem to be exerted trough a primary production of the cytokine Interleukin-6 (IL-6) which triggers a cascade of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Consequently, IL-6 has a central role in the description of the metabolic effects of e...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Soft tissue artefact (STA) compensation is the main problem when aiming at optimal bone-pose estimate. Given the complexity and specificity of this phenomenon, its compensation can only rely on its general features. This study aims at investigating the effect on joint kinematics estimation of different STA mathematical representations and related d...
Article
Full-text available
The assessment of waveform similarity is a crucial issue in gait analysis for the comparison of kinematic or kinetic patterns with reference data. A typical scenario is in fact the comparison of a patient's gait pattern with a relevant physiological pattern. This study aims to propose and validate a simple method for the assessment of waveform simi...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Optoelectronic stereophotogrammetric systems and skin markers are used to analyse human movement in the three dimensional space. During a motor task, skin deformation makes the markers move with respect to the underlying bone, causing the so called soft tissue artefact (STA). Its compensation is the main problem when aiming at optimal bone-pose est...
Article
Full-text available
The present study was aimed at evaluating the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) method to estimate the 3D orientation of the lower trunk during walking using the angular velocity signals generated by a wearable inertial measurement unit (IMU) and notably flawed by drift. The IMU was mounted on the lower trunk (L4-L5) with its active axes aligned w...
Article
While reconstructing skeletal movement using stereophotogrammetry, the relative movement between a skin marker and the underlying bone is regarded as an artefact (soft tissue artefact: STA). Similarly, the consequent pose, size and shape variations that affect a cluster of markers associated with a bony segment, or any arbitrary change of configura...
Article
Full-text available
http://www.researchprotocols.org/2013/2/e44/ Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) is a common age-related disease, and is a major health concern, particularly in developed countries where the population is aging, including Europe. The multi-scale immune system simulator for the onset of type 2 diabetes (MISSION-T2D) is a European Union-funded project th...
Article
Full-text available
The proper execution of the sprint start is crucial in determining the performance during a sprint race. In this respect, when moving from the crouch to the upright position, trunk kinematics is a key element. The purpose of this study was to validate the use of a trunk-mounted inertial measurement unit (IMU) in estimating the trunk inclination and...
Article
Regarding a conception of a new sport shoe, the study of the foot-shoe heating constitutes an important step in the study of the thermal comfort and of the athletic performances. Indeed, the friction of the foot on the ground produces heat and induces a non-homogenous elevation of the temperature in the foot. This elevation varies accordingly to th...
Article
Full-text available
Background The present study aimed at devising a data processing procedure that provides an optimal estimation of the 3-D instantaneous orientation of an inertial measurement unit (IMU). This result is usually obtained by fusing the data measured with accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers. Nevertheless, issues related to compensation of int...
Article
Full-text available
This study aimed at the real-time estimation of the lower-limb joint and torso kinematics during a squat exercise, performed in the sagittal plane, using a single inertial measurement unit placed on the lower back. The human body was modeled with a three-degrees-of-freedom planar chain. The planar IMU orientation and vertical displacement were esti...
Article
Objective quantitative evaluation of motor skill development is of increasing importance to carefully drive physical exercise programs in childhood. Running is a fundamental motor skill humans adopt to accomplish locomotion, which is linked to physical activity levels, although the assessment is traditionally carried out using qualitative evaluatio...
Conference Paper
This study proposes the use of a combination of Weighted Fourier Linear Combiner and Fourier Linear Combiner algorithms to estimate lower trunk orientation angles during walking using the three angular velocity components measured by an inertial measurement unit. The proposed method enables the determination in real-time of the rotations around thr...
Article
Full-text available
Assessing movement skills is a fundamental issue in motor development. Current process-oriented assessments, such as developmental sequences, are based on subjective judgments; if paired with quantitative assessments, a better understanding of movement performance and developmental change could be obtained. Our purpose was to examine the use of ine...