A standardised protocol for three-dimensional ankle kinematics: From motion capture to functional workspace analysis

Mastrangelo, Giovanni; Marcela, Betsy Dayana; Starbuck, Chelsea; Russo, Matteo; Ceccarelli, Marco; Cafolla, Daniele

doi:10.1177/17298806261432729

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A standardised protocol for three-dimensional ankle kinematics: From motion capture to functional workspace analysis

Giovanni Mastrangelo

, Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico

, Chelsea Starbuck

, Matteo Russo

, Marco Ceccarelli

, Daniele Cafolla

International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, Volume: 23, Issue: 3

Swansea University Authors: Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico , Chelsea Starbuck , Daniele Cafolla

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/17298806261432729

Abstract

Understanding the complex biomechanics of the ankle is essential for advancing rehabilitation protocols and improving the design of assistive devices. This work proposes a standardised and reproducible protocol for the three-dimensional assessment of ankle kinematics using a marker-based gold-standa...

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Published in:	International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems
ISSN:	1729-8806 1729-8814
Published:	SAGE Publications 2026
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa72130

first_indexed	2026-06-19T13:28:01Z
last_indexed	2026-06-20T05:03:14Z
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This work proposes a standardised and reproducible protocol for the three-dimensional assessment of ankle kinematics using a marker-based gold-standard motion capture system. Ankle movements of 34 healthy adult women and men were investigated using a VICON motion capture system equipped with 12 infrared cameras. A total of 32 reflective markers were attached to the lower legs, feet and shoes of each participant to capture joint motion and foot–shoe interactions. Participants performed controlled plantarflexion–dorsiflexion, inversion–eversion and abduction–adduction movements, which were analysed using combined local coordinate frames to resolve ankle motion in all three anatomical planes. The ankle joint exhibited the greatest mobility in the frontal plane, with a maximum pitch angle of 106.5; dorsiflexion and plantarflexion were dominated by pitch motion, with an average range of 59.1° in pitch; inversion and eversion showed a more evenly distributed motion pattern, with average angular displacements of 37.4° in roll; abduction and adduction were characterised by yaw motion, with 28.3°. Results demonstrated consistent intra-subject repeatability across trials, with noticeable inter-subject variability, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed protocol in capturing natural variations in human motion. A secondary analysis revealed relative displacement between the foot and shoe, with an average slip of approximately 1 mm and peak values exceeding 10 mm in extreme cases, highlighting the importance of footwear-foot coupling in kinematic studies. 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spelling	2026-06-19T14:28:47.7078081 v2 72130 2026-06-19 A standardised protocol for three-dimensional ankle kinematics: From motion capture to functional workspace analysis fab062f51ecae36a295bd5c53e03fef5 0000-0002-6874-2508 Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico true false b12b936789e5be3976b2f2c1c8988d4c 0000-0001-6266-2876 Chelsea Starbuck Chelsea Starbuck true false ac4feae4da44720e216ab2e0359e4ddb 0000-0002-5602-1519 Daniele Cafolla Daniele Cafolla true false 2026-06-19 MACS Understanding the complex biomechanics of the ankle is essential for advancing rehabilitation protocols and improving the design of assistive devices. This work proposes a standardised and reproducible protocol for the three-dimensional assessment of ankle kinematics using a marker-based gold-standard motion capture system. Ankle movements of 34 healthy adult women and men were investigated using a VICON motion capture system equipped with 12 infrared cameras. A total of 32 reflective markers were attached to the lower legs, feet and shoes of each participant to capture joint motion and foot–shoe interactions. Participants performed controlled plantarflexion–dorsiflexion, inversion–eversion and abduction–adduction movements, which were analysed using combined local coordinate frames to resolve ankle motion in all three anatomical planes. The ankle joint exhibited the greatest mobility in the frontal plane, with a maximum pitch angle of 106.5; dorsiflexion and plantarflexion were dominated by pitch motion, with an average range of 59.1° in pitch; inversion and eversion showed a more evenly distributed motion pattern, with average angular displacements of 37.4° in roll; abduction and adduction were characterised by yaw motion, with 28.3°. Results demonstrated consistent intra-subject repeatability across trials, with noticeable inter-subject variability, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed protocol in capturing natural variations in human motion. A secondary analysis revealed relative displacement between the foot and shoe, with an average slip of approximately 1 mm and peak values exceeding 10 mm in extreme cases, highlighting the importance of footwear-foot coupling in kinematic studies. The proposed methodology provides a robust foundation for the quantitative characterisation of ankle mobility, enabling reproducibility across laboratories and supporting future developments in rehabilitation robotics, ergonomic footwear design and motion analysis research. Journal Article International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems 23 3 SAGE Publications 1729-8806 1729-8814 Experimental biomechanics, motion monitoring, motion capture system, ankle kinematics, functional workspace, rehabilitation, assistive devices 30 6 2026 2026-06-30 10.1177/17298806261432729 COLLEGE NANME Mathematics and Computer Science School COLLEGE CODE MACS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee 2026-06-19T14:28:47.7078081 2026-06-19T14:22:16.1807490 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science Giovanni Mastrangelo 0009-0002-0787-3448 1 Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico 0000-0002-6874-2508 2 Chelsea Starbuck 0000-0001-6266-2876 3 Matteo Russo 0000-0002-8825-8983 4 Marco Ceccarelli 0000-0001-9388-4391 5 Daniele Cafolla 0000-0002-5602-1519 6 72130__37016__dfdc35b8049042b183e1f14023771816.pdf 72130.VOR.pdf 2026-06-19T14:26:23.1004058 Output 5483954 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
title	A standardised protocol for three-dimensional ankle kinematics: From motion capture to functional workspace analysis
spellingShingle	A standardised protocol for three-dimensional ankle kinematics: From motion capture to functional workspace analysis Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico Chelsea Starbuck Daniele Cafolla
title_short	A standardised protocol for three-dimensional ankle kinematics: From motion capture to functional workspace analysis
title_full	A standardised protocol for three-dimensional ankle kinematics: From motion capture to functional workspace analysis
title_fullStr	A standardised protocol for three-dimensional ankle kinematics: From motion capture to functional workspace analysis
title_full_unstemmed	A standardised protocol for three-dimensional ankle kinematics: From motion capture to functional workspace analysis
title_sort	A standardised protocol for three-dimensional ankle kinematics: From motion capture to functional workspace analysis
author_id_str_mv	fab062f51ecae36a295bd5c53e03fef5 b12b936789e5be3976b2f2c1c8988d4c ac4feae4da44720e216ab2e0359e4ddb
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author	Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico Chelsea Starbuck Daniele Cafolla
author2	Giovanni Mastrangelo Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico Chelsea Starbuck Matteo Russo Marco Ceccarelli Daniele Cafolla
format	Journal article
container_title	International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems
container_volume	23
container_issue	3
publishDate	2026
institution	Swansea University
issn	1729-8806 1729-8814
doi_str_mv	10.1177/17298806261432729
publisher	SAGE Publications
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department_str	School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science
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description	Understanding the complex biomechanics of the ankle is essential for advancing rehabilitation protocols and improving the design of assistive devices. This work proposes a standardised and reproducible protocol for the three-dimensional assessment of ankle kinematics using a marker-based gold-standard motion capture system. Ankle movements of 34 healthy adult women and men were investigated using a VICON motion capture system equipped with 12 infrared cameras. A total of 32 reflective markers were attached to the lower legs, feet and shoes of each participant to capture joint motion and foot–shoe interactions. Participants performed controlled plantarflexion–dorsiflexion, inversion–eversion and abduction–adduction movements, which were analysed using combined local coordinate frames to resolve ankle motion in all three anatomical planes. The ankle joint exhibited the greatest mobility in the frontal plane, with a maximum pitch angle of 106.5; dorsiflexion and plantarflexion were dominated by pitch motion, with an average range of 59.1° in pitch; inversion and eversion showed a more evenly distributed motion pattern, with average angular displacements of 37.4° in roll; abduction and adduction were characterised by yaw motion, with 28.3°. Results demonstrated consistent intra-subject repeatability across trials, with noticeable inter-subject variability, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed protocol in capturing natural variations in human motion. A secondary analysis revealed relative displacement between the foot and shoe, with an average slip of approximately 1 mm and peak values exceeding 10 mm in extreme cases, highlighting the importance of footwear-foot coupling in kinematic studies. The proposed methodology provides a robust foundation for the quantitative characterisation of ankle mobility, enabling reproducibility across laboratories and supporting future developments in rehabilitation robotics, ergonomic footwear design and motion analysis research.
published_date	2026-06-30T06:03:14Z
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score	11.109323

A standardised protocol for three-dimensional ankle kinematics: From motion capture to functional workspace analysis

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