Abstract Archive

The study consisted of examining coxo-femoral joint kinematics, in-silico muscle force contributions and hip contact forces during level walking and squatting in femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS). Eleven symptomatic FAIS patients, and 11 healthy participants gave written consent to partic...

With the development of state-of-the-art experimental and computational methods, as well as increased collaborative and interdisciplinary research, the positive impacts of biomechanics research on aspects of daily living have been profound and continue to grow. Here, in addition to summarizing my co...

This presentation will focus on technological approaches that are applied in biomechanical research on head injury and in assessment of protective headgear. Both physical surrogate models that are designed to mimic the biomechanics of living humans, and instrumentation that quantifies exposure to in...

There is a gap between the understanding of the mechanisms of sporting injury and the ability to monitor these risk parameters during a game. A wearable solution in place of captive laboratory biomechanical instrumentation would be a breakthrough for ecological validity and facilitate on-field monit...

Here we present a new musculoskeletal model of the guinea fowl pelvic limb. We use the model to explore how activation and compliance interact to influence the operating lengths and force capacity of muscle.

Wearables enable continuous monitoring of gait in real-world environments over an extended period of time (e.g., week). Previous findings show that in-lab and real-world measures differ; however, it is not fully clear why. This presentation will describe these gaps and illustrate how metrics based o...

Although well-designed and properly fitted sports bras can reduce exercise-induced breast discomfort, women often report experiencing frictional bra-breast injuries during prolonged bouts of running. Frictional bra-breast injuries in sport have been significantly associated with age and breast size,...

All animals must effectively sense and respond to their environment in order to survive. Successfully recovering from a stumble, escaping a predator, or catching prey requires quickly detecting changes in the environment and performing appropriate compensatory movements. The speed of an animalâ€â...

Simulation studies of human gait often model a single subject. Here we show that categorically different results from the population-level result were seen in 36% of N = 200 simulated subjects, including the "average"Âť subject, when simulating the metabolic cost of walking with transtibial limb los...

Animals must seamlessly integrate mechanics and sensorimotor control to achieve agile and stable locomotion in complex environments. Striding bipedal animals (humans and ground birds) use walking and running gaits that look qualitatively similar in whole-body dynamics, gait duty factor, and ground r...

Computational mechanobiological models can help to understand mechanisms leading to the progression of osteoarthritis following a joint injury. Here, we present recent advancements of in vitro and in vivo computational mechanobiological modeling of cartilage for this purpose.

Haber, Hendry, Darkenwald, Knowlton, Rowley, Kenny: A panel discussion focused on how wearables can be used in the future to quantify dance movement, enhance artistic expression, and provide value for dance as an effective means to engage youth in STEAM education concepts

Commercially available ankle prostheses are predominantly passive-elastic devices which cannot perform positive net work, and only produce about an eighth the power of the intact plantarflexors. To address this deficit, recent research has focused on the design of devices capable of supplying additi...

The gross metabolic cost of walking was predicted based on dynamic simulations generated using a 3-D musculoskeletal model. While predicted costs were reasonable, the magnitude was sensitive to how closely the simulations matched the experimental data, and were also likely elevated due to simplifica...

Fragility fractures pose a massive healthcare burden worldwide. Low bone quality is a major determinant of fracture risk. Bone strength, using computed-tomography based subject-specific finite-element (CT-SSFE) analysis, estimates bone quality more accurately than dual-energy X ray absorptiometry ba...

I was exposed to biomechanics research first in 1974 when taking an undergraduate class in biomechanics at the Federal Technical Institute in Zurich. I was lucky as the class was taught by the founder and driver of international biomechanics, Dr. Juerg Wartenweiler, whose legacy is immortalized in t...

Women’s participation in running events has increased drastically. In particular, more women have participated in running races in the U.S. between the mid-2000s and 2016 than men. With an increase in overall participation, particularly with the participation of women in race events, more research...

Researchers and manufacturers often tout the energy storage and return in their passive prosthetic foot designs, but limited evidence suggests that more energy is necessarily advantageous for mobility. In this project, we utilized a custom variable-stiffness ankle prosthesis that enabled subjects to...

Concussions in youth sport are predictable and preventable. Research evaluating concussion prevention strategies to reduce the burden of injury in youth sport will be presented. Research presented will include original research findings evaluating prevention strategies in youth sport and highlights ...

In vitro experiments allow to determine biomechanical properties directly from real complex structures. Such studies are important for basic understanding of the healthy, degenerated or injured spine. These data are also necessary for validation or calibration of finite element models. But in vitro ...

By studying the biomechanical structures and neuromuscular control underlying movement, we can discover strategies to prevent injury, treat disease, and enhance performance. We developed OpenSim 4.0 to model human movement and to simulate the effects of surgery and devices on performance. We are enh...

The purpose of this topic is to describe how biomechanical studies performed to assess the effects on digital flexor tendons excursion of these minimally invasive procedures in comparison to the classical open approach finally leads to the development of original procedures that are now a days routi...

The shoulder joint is the most common site of musculoskeletal pain in people with spinal cord injuries who use manual wheelchairs. Current understanding of shoulder pathology in manual wheelchair users points to an etiology related to overuse of the shoulder joint that is not optimized for weight be...

We used a predictive simulation framework to explore the effect of muscle-tendon (MT) properties on gait pattern selection and cost of transport. Increased maximal muscle contraction speed and hence power induced a transition from walking to running at lower speeds. A large decrease in tendon stiffn...

Real-time sonified biofeedback has the potential to facilitate skill acquisition related to balance and successful turns. Turning is an essential skill for dancers and pedestrians. However, in order to turn, people must achieve conflicting mechanical objectives. Specifically, people need to concurre...

Surrogate measures of medial joint loading during walking are related to structural progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA). As muscle forces contribute to joint loading, muscle activation may influence OA disease course. Increased muscle co-contraction has been identified in individuals with knee i...

Women make up a large percentage of the running population, however research to understand benefits and risks of continuing to run into the silver years is limited. Our work suggests age-related changes in neuromuscular function and running mechanics are not the same for males and females and female...

Incorporating variable muscle coordination strategies into concurrent simulations of full body movement and joint mechanics revealed that muscle co-contraction has significant effect on knee cartilage loading during late stance in walking.

Tendon is a multi-scale fibre composite material, in which highly aligned collagen units are interspersed with a more hydrated proteoglycan-rich matrix at multiple nano-to macro-length scales, leading to a tissue with excellent uniaxial tensile strength and stiffness. However, despite this well-acce...

In January 2005, I came to the University of Waterloo (and Canada) with little appreciation for the breadth and depth of biomechanics research in Canada. Over the last nearly decade and a half, I have seen this excellence persist and expand in dramatic ways. Most markedly, a transition from historic...