Invasive in vivo measurement of rear-, mid- and forefoot motion during walking

The aim of this work was to use bone anchored external markers to describe the kinematics of the tibia, fibula, talus, calcaneus, navicular, cuboid, medial cuneiform, first and fifth metatarsals during gait. Data were collected from six subjects. There was motion at all the joints studied. Movement between the talus and the tibia showed the expected predominance of sagittal plane motion, but the talocalcaneal joint displayed greater variability than expected in its motion. Movement at the talonavicular joint was greater than at the talocalcaneal joint and motion between the medial cuneiform and navicular was far greater than expected. Motion between the first metatarsal and the medial cuneiform was less than motion between the fifth metatarsal and cuboid. Overall the data demonstrated the complexity of the foot and the importance of the joints distal to the rearfoot in its overall dynamic function.