HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

J Appl Physiol 107: 903-911, 2009. First published June 18, 2009; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00174.2009
8750-7587/09 $8.00

This Article Free upon publication Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free All Versions of this Article: 107/3/903    most recent 00174.2009v1 Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Weyand, P. G. Articles by Herr, H. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Weyand, P. G. Articles by Herr, H.

The fastest runner on artificial legs: different limbs, similar function?

¹Locomotor Performance Laboratory, Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas; ²Locomotion Laboratory, Kinesiology Department, Rice University, Houston, Texas; ³Biomechanics Laboratory, College of Health Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming; ⁴Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; ⁵Biomechatronics Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; ⁶School of Applied Physiology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia; ⁷Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado

Submitted 17 February 2009 ; accepted in final form 16 June 2009

The recent competitive successes of a bilateral, transtibial amputee sprint runner who races with modern running prostheses has triggered an international controversy regarding the relative function provided by his artificial limbs. Here, we conducted three tests of functional similarity between this amputee sprinter and competitive male runners with intact limbs: the metabolic cost of running, sprinting endurance, and running mechanics. Metabolic and mechanical data, respectively, were acquired via indirect calorimetry and ground reaction force measurements during constant-speed, level treadmill running. First, we found that the mean gross metabolic cost of transport of our amputee sprint subject (174.9 ml O₂·kg^–1·km^–1; speeds: 2.5–4.1 m/s) was only 3.8% lower than mean values for intact-limb elite distance runners and 6.7% lower than for subelite distance runners but 17% lower than for intact-limb 400-m specialists [210.6 (SD 13.2) ml O₂·kg^–1·km^–1]. Second, the speeds that our amputee sprinter maintained for six all-out, constant-speed trials to failure (speeds: 6.6–10.8 m/s; durations: 2–90 s) were within 2.2 (SD 0.6)% of those predicted for intact-limb sprinters. Third, at sprinting speeds of 8.0, 9.0, and 10.0 m/s, our amputee subject had longer foot-ground contact times [+14.7 (SD 4.2)%], shorter aerial [–26.4 (SD 9.9)%] and swing times [–15.2 (SD 6.9)%], and lower stance-averaged vertical forces [–19.3 (SD 3.1)%] than intact-limb sprinters [top speeds = 10.8 vs. 10.8 (SD 0.6) m/s]. We conclude that running on modern, lower-limb sprinting prostheses appears to be physiologically similar but mechanically different from running with intact limbs.

prosthetics; running economy; sprinting; running; fatigue; locomotion; biomechanics

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. M. Grabowski, C. P. McGowan, W. J. McDermott, M. T. Beale, R. Kram, and H. M. Herr Running-specific prostheses limit ground-force during sprinting Biol Lett, November 4, 2009; (2009) rsbl.2009.0729v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. E. di Prampero, D. Salvadego, S. Fusi, and B. Grassi A simple method for assessing the energy cost of running during incremental tests J Appl Physiol, October 1, 2009; 107(4): 1068 - 1075. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]