Though all designed for the same essential function, human feet vary significantly in their structure between individuals. The most significant difference in foot structure is the arch, referring to the curve between the ball of your foot and the pad on your heel. The foot arch can range from a very high visible arch all the way to what is considered flat feet, with no visible arch and almost the entire sole of the foot making contact with the ground. This difference in structure changes the biomechanics of the foot, in turn changing the way we walk, run, jump, and complete any athletic feat. So how exactly do our arches play into athletic performance?
Continue reading “Arch Rivals: How the Biomechanics of Arched and Flat Feet Impact Athletics”Tag: balance
Spatial Disorientation in Military Pilots: How does aerodynamic forces lead to pilot error?
Icarus, the prisoner that dared to touch the heavens; his story of flight captivated humanity with the dream of flight for centuries. With the coming of the first powered and controlled flight in 1903 by the Wright brothers, to fifth-generation fighter aircraft, this ancient dream became reality. Yet, as Icarus ignored his father’s warnings and fell from the sky, modern pilots too can be deceived, not by the sun, but by their own senses.
But how does this deception happen?
Flight & Spatial Disorientation
Unlike birds who have been flying for around 150 million years, the human body has evolved to move on solid ground, meaning in a two-dimensional space. Not through a three-dimensional space where one can experience differing flight maneuvers, or acceleration at multiple gravitational forces (G-force), that make orientation difficult to maintain. Naval Pilots rely not only on their flight instruments, but also their visual, and vestibular senses to navigate in the skies. Any variation in these senses causes spatial disorientation (SD); which according to a study done in 2014, 20% of all plane accidents are related to the pilot’s optical illusions. There are three classifications to SD:
Type 1: Unrecognized
- These SD’s are unrecognized by the pilot.
Type 2: Recognized
- The Pilot recognizes the SD, and can attempt to correct it.
Type 3: Incapacitating
- The pilot is incapacitated and cannot save himself nor recover the aircraft
The Lying Senses
Within the inner ear lies the vestibular system acting as our built-in balance sensor, and gyroscope; with its main goal being that we are oriented upright, straight, and level. There’s two parts to the vestibular system: the semicircular canals that detect angular/rotational movement, and the otolith organs that detect linear acceleration. But, like any man-made sensor, it has limits. The vestibular system is sensitive to G-force, and prolonged maneuvers, creating illusions that fall into two categories: somatogyral for spinning illusions, and somatogravic, for acceleration illusions.
Imagine you’re flying through the clouds in an F-35C, no visible terrain, and the horizon is obstructed. You bank into a turn, the fluid in your semicircular canals start moving, but after a while your brain no longer recognizes that you’re still in a bank as the fluid in your ear has reached equilibrium within the canal wall. Then you exit the clouds and level out, your eyes and instruments may say your level, but the fluid in your inner ear is still moving, giving pilots the urge to bank the aircraft into an attitude to correct this feeling; a situation called “the leans,” a somatogyral illusion.
Vision isn’t the savior
During flight, vision is the most important sense needed not just for flying, but to achieve accurate spatial orientation. But, vision can betray you in the sky. Your eyes and brain work together in order to decipher how light reflects off things, this “vision” allows pilots to see their surroundings and help navigate through the skies. However, if a pilot is in an maneuver where their exposed to high G-Forces, they can be “G-Locked,” or have an G-induced loss of consciousness that can negatively effect their vision as it constricts blood flow to the brain causing pilots to lose sharpness in their vision. 3-4 G’s is whenever a pilot without adequate G-force protection can expect gray vision (blurred central vision), with the pilot blacking out between 5-7 G’s.
Bringing it Home
Aerospace technology is only continuing to get better, and the understanding of the human physiology, and the biomechanics of Spatial Disorientation remain a constant. Pilots must not only learn to master their aircraft, whether it be for a commercial purpose to protect the lives of the passengers, or a military purpose to fulfill the mission, but they must also understand their own biology as well. This understanding of the human body’s limitation is the only way to prevent and counteract spatial disorientation. After all, as Icarus learned long ago, the sky may be beautiful, but it is not forgiving.
Featured Image from USN
Further Reading:
Turning Pretty: The Biomechanics of Perfecting Piqués In Dance
While technical dance, such as ballet, is the epitome of visually effortless movements, have you wondered how dancers are able to turn on a small bodily area without falling over? It turns out there is much more to a dancer’s execution of a turn than the elegant movement the audience sees.
Continue reading “Turning Pretty: The Biomechanics of Perfecting Piqués In Dance”How Goats Defy Gravity and How it Has Inspired Engineers
In the world of engineering, the optimization of prosthetics and robotics is at the forefront of research. However, many designs are faced with the same problem – poor stability, especially when it comes to rough or sloped surfaces. This prevents amputees from being able to enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking and rock climbing, and traversing robots from being able to perform complex search and rescue. So, researchers have gotten creative and have decided to look into nature. Naturally, mountain goats became a prime source of inspiration due to their ability to seemingly defy gravity when scaling mountain tops. How do they do this? To answer this question, plenty of research has been conducted to look into things like goat anatomy, joint angles, centers of mass, ground reaction forces, and more.
Continue reading “How Goats Defy Gravity and How it Has Inspired Engineers”Balancing the Load: Understanding Pressure Distribution in Prosthetic Sockets
How do pressure profiles and shear stresses in prosthetic sockets affect prosthesis user comfort? For prosthesis users, comfort is essential for mobility, quality of life, and long-term health. The fit and alignment of a prosthesis are highly individualized and crucial for instilling confidence in daily activities. However, current prosthesis fittings are largely subjective, depending on the prosthetist’s experience and user feedback. This qualitative method often overlooks the critical factor of pressure distribution within the socket, which can significantly impact pain levels and ease of movement.
Read more: Balancing the Load: Understanding Pressure Distribution in Prosthetic Sockets Continue reading “Balancing the Load: Understanding Pressure Distribution in Prosthetic Sockets”Footsteps and Force-Waves: New Methods of Measuring Lymphedema
The lymphatic system is a system of vessels and lymph nodes that runs parallel to our vascular system. It takes up extra fluid from around our cells, filters it, and returns the liquid to our circulatory system. When part of the lymphatic system is damaged by surgery, radiation treatments, or injury, a progressive disease called lymphedema can occur.
Continue reading “Footsteps and Force-Waves: New Methods of Measuring Lymphedema”Slipping or Tripping? Researchers Find Best Way to Regain Your Balance
Everyone has slipped or tripped at some point in their lives. Whether it is walking on an icy road to get to your car or tripping over the Lego set your kid refused to put away, everyday obstacles can cause us to lose our balance. Often this results in a brief moment of panic followed by the uneasy relief of regaining your footing, but for those who aren’t lucky enough to avoid falling, the results can be devastating. This is especially prevalent in populations more susceptible to falling. Falling in the workplace accounts for 16.8% of all non-fatal injuries leading to days taken off work. It is thought that this is due to the high volume of slipping or tripping obstacles encountered in some occupations. Additionally, 36 million falls resulting in 32,000 deaths were reported for the 65+ year old population of the US. Elderly individuals may lack the strength and reflexes necessary to recover their balance quickly. This is especially worrisome because the elderly are also the most at risk for the major health complications that can be caused by fall related injuries.
Continue reading “Slipping or Tripping? Researchers Find Best Way to Regain Your Balance”Falling for You: How to Reduce Fall Risks?
The majority of people know what a fall is and, in fact, many people have unfortunately experienced one or a few. But what would be a good definition for what a fall is? Simply put, a fall is something that happens when you lose your balance and cannot recover. Falls have the potential to ruin anyone’s day. For some, however, the risk is far more severe than that as falls are one of the leading factors in injury and death among the elderly population. This will continue to be a problem as the number of elderly people in the United States is expected to increase dramatically over the next fifty years.
Continue reading “Falling for You: How to Reduce Fall Risks?”Living Off Balance
Imagine yourself walking at a normal pace down the sidewalk. Maybe you are on your way to class. The sidewalk has a little bit of a tilt causing your left foot to be higher than the right as it plants on the ground. Imagine how your body may compensate after a few minutes of walking on this path. We have all walked on uneven ground and began to feel the effects with sore knees or hips. But what if you felt this same way all the time even on perfectly flat terrain? This is the reality for those with leg length discrepancies.
Continue reading “Living Off Balance”Put One Foot in Front of the Other? It’s Not that Easy
From Christmas movies to pop songs to motivational posters, we are encouraged to keep putting “one foot in front of the other.” While the sentiment is inspiring, recent studies show that there is a lot more to the seemingly simple task of walking than this phrase would suggest. Understanding this is especially important for balance and mobility after an injury or as people age.
Continue reading “Put One Foot in Front of the Other? It’s Not that Easy”