Knee Joint Kinematics During Four Functional Tests in Athletes: Analysis of Range of Movement and Limb Symmetry

  • Samantha Martín del Campo
  • , Germán García
  • , Leonel González
  • , María Maldonado
  • , Adel Rophie
  • , Fernando Reyes
  • , Carlos Cuellar*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

This study assessed differences in knee joint range of movement (ROM) and the Leg Symmetry Index (LSI) during four tasks in healthy athletes (n = 15). We hypothesized that there would be no significant differences in the ROM and LSI of the knee in the sagittal plane in elite athletes when performing squats, lunges, single-leg landing drop, and drop vertical jump. Fifteen athletes (14 males) performed each task. Knee kinematics were recorded using a six-camera motion capture system. Seventeen reflective markers were placed bilaterally to calculate angular trajectories of the knee joint, and vectors from femur and fibula landmarks were used to quantify the ROM of the knee in a sagittal plane. Differences in ROM between the dominant leg (DML) and non-dominant leg (N-DML) were analyzed using paired t-tests, while LSI was computed as the N-DML/DML ratio. One-way ANOVA was used to compare LSI across the four tasks. Results showed no significant differences in ROM between limbs in any task (p > 0.05). LSI values were consistently close to 1.0, indicating high inter-limb symmetry. No significant variation in LSI was found between tasks (p = 0.992). These findings suggest that healthy athletes exhibit symmetrical knee ROM and LSI across diverse dynamic tasks, providing relevant benchmarks for injury prevention and functional assessment.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationXLVIII Mexican Conference on Biomedical Engineering - Proceedings of CNIB 2025, Volume 2
Subtitle of host publicationBiomechanics, Rehabilitation and Clinical Engineering
EditorsEsmeralda Zuñiga-Aguilar, Balam Benítez-Mata, Jose Javier Reyes-Lagos, Humiko Yahaira Hernandez Acosta, Adeodato Israel Botello Arredondo, Rafael Bayareh Mancilla, Jaime Fabian Vázquez de la Rosa, Cindy Alejandra Gutiérrez Valenzuela
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages123-131
Number of pages9
ISBN (Print)9783032137210
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2026
Event48th Mexican Conference on Biomedical Engineering, CNIB 2025 - Monterrey, Mexico
Duration: 11 Sep 202513 Sep 2025

Publication series

NameIFMBE Proceedings
Volume138 IFMBE
ISSN (Print)1680-0737
ISSN (Electronic)1433-9277

Conference

Conference48th Mexican Conference on Biomedical Engineering, CNIB 2025
Country/TerritoryMexico
CityMonterrey
Period11/09/2513/09/25

Keywords

  • drop vertical jump
  • healthy athletes
  • knee kinematics
  • limb symmetry index
  • lunges
  • range of motion
  • single-leg landing drop
  • squats

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