The Evolution of Marker-based Motion Analysis and the Integration of Advanced Computational Methods: Application to Human Gait Biomechanics

Marker-based methods that are applied in motion analysis in the field of biomechanics and rehabilitation have evolved considerably over the past few decades. Although markerless systems have emerged to be an innovative alternative for motion analysis, their accuracy and practicality remain to be further scrutinized. This narrative review primarily aims to summarize the evaluation and current status of marker-based motion analysis methods and together with the emerging computational methods, further highlight their application to human gait biomechanics. Before the advent of 3D digital technology, the 2D image digitization was found to be the most widespread tool for biomechanical motion analysis, such as cine cameras. 2D image digitization analysis could still be used in some specified situations (e.g., sports competition) but caution is needed during manual normalization and digitization. Although several drawbacks remain to be solved, VICON motion analysis system is still one of the most widely utilized 3D marker-based motion analysis method. Based on multiple optical cameras, which emit infrared light, the optoelectronic systems can automatically deduce and calculate the 3D joint coordinate position through the external marker, substantially reduce the processing time and improve the accuracy. In recent year, the integration of advanced computational analysis software (e.g., OpenSim, ANSYS etc.) into motion analysis methods has made the investigation of the internal changes between joints become the current research focus in sports biomechanics and rehabilitation. With the research-oriented coding, these combinations could further contribute to data mining in human gait biomechanics.