6. Conclusion

As far as the measurement of movements by optoelectronic systems based on passive markers is concerned, sources of experimental error, notably those linked to soft tissue artifacts, remain an open problem, as the methods proposed to model and compensate for them are, as we have seen, not yet completely satisfactory. This leads to a significant uncertainty in joint kinematics, making them difficult to use for certain clinical applications requiring high precision.

Access to the efforts developed in muscles and joint reactions during everyday movements is obviously fundamental to refining our understanding of the contribution of different structures (joint geometry, ligaments, tendons, muscles, etc.) to these movements, and thus improving diagnosis and treatment of the many locomotion disorders. However, it is important to set this potential interest against the many...