Advances in Lower Limb Biomechanics

Dear Colleagues,

Lower limb biomechanics is a core interdisciplinary research field that bridges functional morphology, kinesiology, sports science, clinical rehabilitation, and biomedical engineering. It underpins the understanding of human locomotion, movement control, and musculoskeletal health across the lifespan and diverse clinical populations. Walking and running are the most fundamental human gait patterns, and subtle alterations in lower limb kinematics, kinetics, and neuromuscular coordination are closely associated with aging, musculoskeletal degeneration, metabolic diseases, and movement dysfunction.

In recent years, the rapid iteration of intelligent sensing, computer vision, artificial intelligence (AI), and biomechanical simulation technologies has revolutionized traditional gait analysis and lower limb biomechanical research. Conventional marker-based motion capture methods are gradually complemented and replaced by emerging high-precision, low-cost, and portable techniques, including markerless computer vision analysis, inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensing, and finite element simulation. Meanwhile, intelligent analytical tools driven by AI have enabled automated, high-throughput, and individualized biomechanical data interpretation, breaking the limitations of traditional manual analysis and small-sample research.

Clinically, lower limb biomechanical abnormalities are key biomarkers for the diagnosis, intervention, and rehabilitation of multiple chronic diseases, such as knee/hip osteoarthritis (OA), diabetic foot disorders, and sarcopenia in older adults. In the field of human performance and rehabilitation engineering, wearable sensors and exoskeleton-assisted walking devices have been widely applied to optimize gait patterns, improve motor function, and prevent sports injuries. Against this technological and clinical backdrop, it is urgent to systematically collect cutting-edge original research and state-of-the-art reviews to summarize innovative theories, methods, and translational applications in lower limb biomechanics, which can promote the integration of basic kinesiology research and clinical rehabilitation practice.

Aim: This Special Issue aims to gather high-quality original research articles and comprehensive reviews focusing on frontier technological innovations and translational applications in lower limb biomechanics. It particularly focuses on novel gait analysis methodologies, intelligent biomechanical detection technologies, population-specific gait biomechanical characteristics, and biomechanical mechanisms of clinical rehabilitation and auxiliary equipment intervention. The issue intends to elucidate the neuromuscular and biomechanical laws of walking, running, and gait transition, explore the application value of emerging technologies (computer vision, IMU sensing, simulation, AI analysis) in gait research, and provide theoretical and technical support for clinical gait rehabilitation, sports injury prevention, and intelligent auxiliary equipment optimization. This collection targets at accumulating no fewer than 10 authoritative articles to form a systematic and in-depth academic monograph for publication.

Journal Scope Alignment: The Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology focuses on functional morphology, human kinesiology, movement biomechanics, sports performance, musculoskeletal health, and clinical rehabilitation, covering gait analysis, motor control, exercise biomechanics, and physical therapy research. This Special Issue perfectly fits the journal’s core scope: it closely combines morphological functional characteristics and kinesiological principles of lower limb movement, centers on gait biomechanical changes under physiological and pathological states, and integrates emerging intelligent technologies and clinical rehabilitation applications. The theme is neither overly broad nor narrow, focusing on the innovative technological progress and practical translational value of lower limb biomechanics, which is highly consistent with the journal’s positioning of publishing frontier, applied, and interdisciplinary research in human movement science and rehabilitation.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and systematic/review articles are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

• Cutting-edge biomechanical measurement technologies: markerless motion analysis, computer vision-based gait capture, inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensing application, and finite element/biomechanical simulation technology;
• Intelligent gait analysis methods: AI-assisted lower limb biomechanical data processing, automated gait feature extraction, and machine learning-based movement pattern recognition;
• Basic gait biomechanics research: kinematic, kinetic, and muscle synergy characteristics of walking, running, walk-to-run gait transition, jumping, landing, etc.;
• Population-specific lower limb biomechanics: gait biomechanical alterations in elderly sarcopenia patients, knee/hip osteoarthritis patients, and diabetic foot patients;
• Clinical gait rehabilitation biomechanics: biomechanical mechanism of gait retraining, real-time biofeedback rehabilitation effects, and quantitative evaluation of rehabilitation efficacy;
• Intelligent assistive biomechanics: lower limb biomechanical responses and gait optimization mechanisms induced by exoskeleton walking aids and wearable rehabilitation devices;
• Sports biomechanics and injury prevention: lower limb coordination characteristics during sports gait, biomechanical risk factors for overuse injuries, and optimized movement strategies.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Shiwei Mo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• lower limb biomechanics
• gait analysis
• markerless capture analysis
• inertial measurement unit
• artificial intelligence
• gait rehabilitation
• osteoarthritis
• diabetic foot
• muscle synergy
• exoskeleton
• walking
• running
• jumping
• landing