In the field of physical therapy, movement compensation function and crumbling point are among crucial aspects in the evaluation, analysis and examination of movements, according to Jeffrey Huang, chief technology officer of MAP Movement Pattern Evaluation Center, a Taiwan startup dedicated to personal movement analysis and evaluation.
The movement crumbling point is where movement deviation starts to occur. For instance, when a man squats down five centimeters his movement may stay well coordinated, but if his knees deviate inward when he squats down for one more centimeter, then that is the crumbling point for his squatting movement, Huang said.
As to compensation function, it means that when a certain body part fails to move normally, another body part will help to complete the movement. In case ankles are deviated, for instance, knees will offer support to ankles and complete some movements. Huang said that such a compensation function is a physiological mechanism needed to enable movements to continue, but compensation required for overly deviated movements must be executed through physical therapy.
Huang continued that evaluating a movement must focus more on the quality of the movement rather than its absolute data. Citing an example for explanation, Huang said, in jumping over box horse, a man must manage to maintain even forces when jumping down as any skew movement will be deemed abnormal.
Lukas Tung, chief operating officer at MAP, also noted that if AI and IoT technologies are incorporated into movement analysis services in the future, MAP can sharply shorten the analysis time to render the public faster, quality and multiple movement correction advices and better promote preventive medicine to ordinary people.
