Science AI Journal
Engineering · Research topic

Open research questions in Lower Extremity Biomechanics and Pathologies

513 gap statements mined from Lower Extremity Biomechanics and Pathologies papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,914 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

Choosing where to publish on Lower Extremity Biomechanics and Pathologies? See the ranked Engineering journals.

What the literature leaves open

  • Further studies are needed to confirm the findings in a larger population. Studies should investigate the relationship between patellar lateralization and other factors that contribute to PFOA. Research should focus on developing new methods for evaluating patellar lateralization.

    Assessment of Patellar Lateralization and Its Association with Patellofemoral Osteoarthritis Severity: A Retrospective MRI-Based Study · 2026 · DOI

  • Prior studies have not fully investigated the correlation between patellar lateralization and PFOA severity.

    Assessment of Patellar Lateralization and Its Association with Patellofemoral Osteoarthritis Severity: A Retrospective MRI-Based Study · 2026 · DOI

  • One challenge is the complexity of patella fractures, which can result from various mechanisms and have different fracture patterns. Another challenge is the limited understanding of the variables associated with fixation failure in patella fractures. The study also faced challenges in terms of patient follow-up, with some patients having less than 90 days of follow-up.

    Early complications associated with fixation constructs of operatively treated patella fractures: a retrospective study · 2026 · DOI

  • Further comparative studies are needed to establish the role of the hybrid SVW+TBW construct relative to plate fixation. Studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm the findings.

    Hybrid separate vertical wiring plus tension-band fixation for inferior-pole patellar fractures with articular-body extension: a consecutive series of 14 cases · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of consensus on the optimal fixation strategy for comminuted patella fractures. The current fixation strategies for comminuted patella fractures have high failure rates. There is a need for a more effective fixation strategy for comminuted patella fractures.

    Low early fixation failure rates with variable-angle locking plate fixation of AO/OTA 34 C patella fractures: a retrospective cohort study · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of clinical studies investigating dorsal plating in patellar fractures. The study aims to fill this gap by comparing clinical and functional outcomes between two osteosynthesis techniques.

    Clinical outcomes of contoured dorsal mini-fragment plate fixation versus tension band wiring for transverse articular patellar fractures: a prospective observational study · 2026 · DOI

  • The need to integrate multiscale force patterns, learned convolutional representations, and raw-waveform linear information. The challenge of selecting an effective temporal-receptive-field configuration for the multi-scale temporal backbone. The difficulty of evaluating the contribution of each probability component in the hybrid fusion.

    GaitScreen: a ground reaction force-based framework for prescreening gait abnormalities in orthopaedic populations · 2026 · DOI

  • The need to capture complex relationships in the data without imposing rigid assumptions about the underlying functional form. The challenge of predicting continuous outcomes such as injury likelihood in sports science.

    Predicting knee pain severity in professional distance runners using gaussian process regression · 2026 · DOI

  • Further research could investigate the application of GPR models to other types of injuries or sports. Future studies could explore the use of larger datasets or more diverse populations. Additional research could examine the effectiveness of GPR models in real-world training scenarios.

    Predicting knee pain severity in professional distance runners using gaussian process regression · 2026 · DOI

  • The diversity of materials and lack of standard terminology hinder comparison across studies. Most simulations do not represent real-world footwear conditions, omitting the upper and assuming unrestricted dorsal-foot motion.

    Finite element analysis of foot-insole biomechanics for insole design: a systematic review · 2026 · DOI

  • Current tibial load monitoring methods rely mainly on laboratory equipment and wearable devices, but datasets combining both sources are limited. Wearable-based algorithms often fail to capture deep signal features, hindering early detection and prevention of tibial fatigue injuries.

    Application of Wearable Insole Sensors in In-Place Running: Estimating Lower Limb Load Using Machine Learning · 2025 · DOI

  • Adductor sling (AS) and anatomic femoral tunnel (AFT) are femoral-side fixation options for medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction (MPFLR), but direct comparative evidence remains limited.

    Adductor sling and anatomic femoral tunnel fixation both yield high postoperative functional scores after medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction: A retrospective multicenter study · 2026 · DOI

  • Optimal treatment strategies for (osteo-)chondral injuries following patellar dislocation remain unclear.

    Revision rates are similar after surgical treatment of acute chondral and osteochondral injuries following patellar dislocation: A multicentre cohort study · 2026 · DOI

  • Although age-related kinematic changes have been described, how dual-tasking affects running patterns and when these changes occur remains unclear.

    Kinematic analysis of road running under motor and cognitive dual-task conditions in young, middle-aged and older experienced and trainer runners · 2026 · DOI

  • Running on unpaved trails is commonly perceived to reduce impact loading and injury risk, yet biomechanical evidence remains limited across age groups.

    Age-related differences in tibial accelerations and cadence between paved and unpaved trail surfaces during a prolonged run · 2026 · DOI

  • Surface-related alterations in joint loading during trail running remain unclear.

    Surface-related differences in lower-limb biomechanics during running on concrete and artificial turf using OpenSim · 2026 · DOI

  • While additional work is needed to mitigate increases in vasti EMG, our data demonstrates that individuals with knee osteoarthritis can reduce gastrocnemius EMG and late-stance knee contact force in a brief period of training, suggesting the potential of muscle coordination retraining as a non-surgical intervention for knee osteoarthritis.

    Retraining Gastrocnemius Muscle Coordination Reduces Late-Stance Knee Contact Force in Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis · 2026 · DOI

  • Multi-wearable sensor and multi-camera setups have been explored but remain complex and lack validation across diverse gait modifications in individuals with knee OA.

    Single-Camera Knee Adduction Moment Estimation for Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis via a Novel Spatio-Temporal Graph Transformer Network · 2026 · DOI

  • Ground reaction force (GRF) is a key indicator for evaluating load-suspended backpacks, which have demonstrated biomechanical and energetic advantages during level walking but have not yet been studied for slope walking.

    An Optimized Bipedal Model for Estimating the Vertical and Anteroposterior Ground Reaction Forces During Slope Walking While Carrying a Suspended Load · 2026 · DOI

  • These results highlight the limited and inconsistent associations of BMI with PPP and support further investigation of detailed anthropometry in individualized PP and gait assessment.

    Beyond BMI: The Role of Anthropometric Measurements in Predicting Plantar Pressure Distribution and Gait Biomechanics · 2026 · DOI

  • Incorporating dynamic soft-tissue behavior into the simulation model. Patient-specific modeling of ligament properties, muscle forces, and joint contact mechanics. Investigating the influence of advanced degenerative changes on the osseous landmarks.

    Influence of the screw-home mechanism on TT-TG distance: a 3D kinematic simulation study · 2026 · DOI

  • Retrospective study design, - Limited to a single Level I trauma center, - Patients with less than 90 days of follow-up were excluded, - Insufficient medical record documentation was an exclusion…

    Early complications associated with fixation constructs of operatively treated patella fractures: a retrospective study · 2026 · DOI

  • The study was non-randomized, - The sample size was relatively small, - The study was conducted at a single Level I trauma center, - The follow-up period was limited to a minimum of 1…

    Clinical outcomes of contoured dorsal mini-fragment plate fixation versus tension band wiring for transverse articular patellar fractures: a prospective observational study · 2026 · DOI

  • The sample size was modest, - All participants were drawn from a single previously reported cohort, - The locked test set was separated from model development but remained part of the same source cohort, - Important clinical and demographic factors may influence plantar-pressure…

    Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis Identification Using Wearable Plantar Pressure: Secondary Cross-Sectional Analysis of Interpretable Framework Integrating Biomechanical Descriptors and the Multiscale Synergy Index · 2026 · DOI

  • Confirmation in larger independent cohorts, - Examination of feature stability, - Investigation of phase-resolved PSI patterns, - Analysis of robustness to perturbation and design…

    Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis Identification Using Wearable Plantar Pressure: Secondary Cross-Sectional Analysis of Interpretable Framework Integrating Biomechanical Descriptors and the Multiscale Synergy Index · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Lower Extremity Biomechanics and Pathologies

Most recent work

Find a gap in your own Lower Extremity Biomechanics and Pathologies sub-topic

This page shows what the Lower Extremity Biomechanics and Pathologies literature already flags as unresolved. To narrow it to your specific question, search the Research Gap Finder: the search is free with a free account and lists the papers closest to your topic first. Unlocking that topic (50 credits, charged once) fills the comparison table from our 7.9M-paper local library and writes the gaps from its rows.

Open the Research Gap Finder →

Related topics in Engineering

Advanced Battery Technologies Research
1,550 open questions
Concrete and Cement Materials Research
1,116 open questions
Rock Mechanics and Modeling
998 open questions
Advancements in Battery Materials
887 open questions
Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
885 open questions
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
852 open questions
UAV Applications and Optimization
797 open questions
BIM and Construction Integration
796 open questions
Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Further studies are needed to confirm the findings in a larger population (“Assessment of Patellar Lateralization and Its Association with Patellofemoral…”, 2026); (2) Further comparative studies are needed to establish the role of the hybrid SVW+TBW construct relative to plate fixation (“Hybrid separate vertical wiring plus tension-band fixation for inferior-pole…”, 2026); (3) There is a lack of consensus on the optimal fixation strategy for comminuted patella fractures (“Low early fixation failure rates with variable-angle locking plate fixation of…”, 2026); (4) There is a lack of clinical studies investigating dorsal plating in patellar fractures (“Clinical outcomes of contoured dorsal mini-fragment plate fixation versus…”, 2026); (5) Further research could investigate the application of GPR models to other types of injuries or sports (“Predicting knee pain severity in professional distance runners using gaussian…”, 2026). 513 gap statements have been mined from Lower Extremity Biomechanics and Pathologies papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,914 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

Tools for your next paper

Gaps & Literature SearchFind open questions in any field — 1,100,000+ open gaps mined from our own library.Pre-CheckIs your paper ready? Acceptance odds for top, mid and open/emerging journals, in seconds.Journal FinderA ranked shortlist of target journals from a 17,500-venue index.Duplicate Publication CheckerCheck for prior publication across 7 sources and our local library.Citation GeneratorFreeA DOI or title → APA, MLA, Vancouver, Chicago, BibTeX, RIS. No signup.Graphical Abstract MakerFreeTurn your findings into a colorblind-safe graphical abstract.

How Pre-Check worksHow AI Review works

Compare the category — Honest roundups of the AI research tools, ours listed alongside the alternatives.

Command palette

Jump anywhere, run any action.