Muscle function may depend on model selection in forward simulation of normal walking

The purpose of this study was to quantify how the predicted muscle function would change in a muscle-driven forward simulation of normal walking when changing the number of degrees of freedom in the model. Muscle function was described by individual muscle contributions to the vertical acceleration of the center of mass (COM). We built a two-dimensional (2D) sagittal plane model and a three-dimensional (3D) model in OpenSim and used both models to reproduce the same normal walking data. Perturbation analysis was applied to deduce muscle function in each model. Muscle excitations and contributions to COM support were compared between the 2D and 3D models. We found that the 2D model was able to reproduce similar joint kinematics and kinetics patterns as the 3D model. Individual muscle excitations were different for most of the hip muscles but ankle and knee muscles were able to attain similar excitations. Total induced vertical COM acceleration by muscles and gravity was the same for both models. However, individual muscle contributions to COM support varied, especially for hip muscles. Although there is currently no standard way to validate muscle function predictions, a 3D model seems to be more appropriate for estimating individual hip muscle function.