Abstract Archive

Strokes are one of the leading causes of death for Hispanics living in the United States. Falling is the most frequent complication experienced by individuals with stroke, both in a hospital and community setting. The risk for falls among persons with stroke is greater compared to age-matched health...

Fatigue of skeletal muscles reduces their ability to prevent injuries to their corresponding tendons. For example, Achilles tendinopathy often results when the tendon is overloaded due to fatigue of the triceps surae. To better understand this occurrence, we used a high-density array of electrodes t...

We used Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) to discover muscle modules (groups of co-activated muscles) of patients with post-stroke hemiparetic gait before and after gait retraining. Patients who have suffered a stroke often have an impaired gait due to the merging of these modules, which are d...

This work presents the kinematics and dynamics results from a motion capture study that collected head and helmet motions of 12 subjects. The (translational and rotational) motions of the helmet relative to the head were obtained from the inverse kinematics analyses. Inverse dynamics analyses were p...

Accurate measurement of temporal gait parameters is critical to provide valid estimates of running dynamics. Commercial sensors provide gait measures, but the algorithms used to produce these measures require validation and may be effected by individual differences in running style. This study aims ...

Osteoarthritis (OA) associated chronic pain leads to reduced function and engagement in activities of daily living. This study investigated the efficacy of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on cartilage integrity. Monoiodoacetate (MIA) model of OA was used to evaluate cartilage degradation following tw...

This study investigated the minimum sensor configuration (individual or pair) to achieve the simplest cost-effective sensor fusion configuration for robust gait event detection. Five sensors were attached to a powered ankle-foot orthosis: foot IMU, shank IMU, ankle potentiometer, heel contact sensor...

This paper deals with the design of a wearable multi-sensor system (INDIP) that exploits a synergistic integration of different sensor types to provide a “best available” solution for digital gait assessment in real world scenarios. The system includes in its full bilateral configuration 2 Magne...

A biomechanical evaluation was completed to assess and help better understand the human-factor outcomes of sitting in an active office chair.

Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is a common pathology that often requires rehabilitation exercises such as lunges to strengthen leg musculature. We examined the joint reaction forces at the knee during different phases of forward and backward lunges. Peak quadriceps force and patellofemoral (PF) joint rea...

Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte (hiPSC-CM) tissue consists of heterogeneous CMs coupled by gap junctions. Electromechanical effects of these couplings are estimated using a computer model. Simulations suggest that the electromechanical variability in the tissue is decreased...

The use of bracing is a cost-effective and non-invasive treatment that provides pain relief without side effects with respect to knee osteoarthritis. In this study, a model with knee osteoarthritis combined with a finite element analysis model and a musculoskeletal model was constructed. This study ...

Is it your mind or your hand that grasps an idea? Neural and behavioural evidence from the cognitive sciences suggests it may be both due to a theorized bidirectional relationship between cognitive processes and motor control. Yet, this hypothesis has not been approached from a neuromechanical persp...

In this study we compare common neuromechanical proxies for effort to the metabolic cost of reaching. We present a biomechanically accurate neuromuscular model of the arm, developed to estimate effort costs through measured metabolic cost in eight subjects making arm reaching movements. Neural drive...

Variable Stiffness Shoes (VSS) have been developed to reduce external knee adduction moment (KAM) in patients with osteoarthritis (OA). This study’s findings suggest transverse and frontal plane gait adaptations in VSS that occur at the knee and hip need to be considered to understand the potentia...

Landing is considered a high-risk movement. Understanding lower extremity muscle contributions to three-dimensional ground reaction forces (GRF) may give insight to redesigning safe landing techniques. Five females completed an unanticipated stop-jump task. Musculoskeletal modelling was used to esti...

We investigated changes in quadriceps motor unit firing behaviour during 2-leg vs. 1-leg squat exercises. In both tasks, motor unit firing rates of the Vastus Lateralis (VL) muscle were significantly lower during eccentric vs. concentric phases of the squat. However, as the subjects moved from 2-leg...

Muscle and knee forces were estimated for 13 female athletes performing a drop vertical jump (DVJ) to quantify tibial anterior shear force (ASF) during landing. We employed and compared a method that accounted for measured electromyography (EMG) to a more typical effort minimization method to evalua...

We developed an automatic design programme to manufacture customized ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs). This kind of customized AFOs were much suitable for patients, because they prevent rubbing against foot and orthosis. First, we used a 3D scanner to obtain the foot 3D model, and then entered the data in...

This study considers the technology of patient-specific computer planning of dentition restoration of edentulous mandible using dental implants. A model of the jaw and distribution of elastic modules by jaw‘s volume are reconstructed from a computer tomogram. The model is supplemented with virtual...

Wearable sensing provides new, quantitative metrics to monitor recovery and rehabilitation after neurologic injury. Measurements from electromyography (EMG) sensors and inertial measurement units (IMUs) can be used for tracking muscle activity and movement to evaluate prognosis and progression. Meas...

Ultimate frisbee players have a high rate of lower limb injury¶ such as ACL tears. We studied the prevalence of high-risk¶ cutting maneuvers in women’s collegiate ultimate players¶ during competition using lower-body wearable motion¶ sensors. Cutting frequency ranged from to 19 cuts per point....

Older endurance runners did not display smaller hip kinetics or larger ankle kinetics compared to older non-runners (i.e. a history of running did not mitigate age-related differences in gait kinetics) which may suggest that age-related differences in gait kinetics are a normal and healthy part of n...

Fatigue related to wheelchair propulsion is a likely risk factor for shoulder pain in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Interventions should target persons injured later in life and improve muscular activation and propulsion technique.

The study presents the preliminary result of a semi-qualitative analysis of lower limb joint angle coordination during gait in a lower limb amputee’s population. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the kinematic joint coordination between LLA and healthy individuals (and their possibl...

We used uphill walking to test whether lower-extremity joints, and the major muscle groups spanning them, could alter their mechanical functions. We found that the hip, ankle, and knee decreased spring- and damper-like behavior and increased motor-like behavior during uphill walking. These joint-lev...

We engineered transgenic Drosophila lines mimicking the effects of sarcopenia on myosin, which were recently elucidated by proteomic studies using elderly human skeletal muscle biopsies. We performed skinned fiber mechanics on flight muscles from young flies expressing myosin genetically modified to...

Clinical measures of arm strength and pitch velocity were measured in college pitchers. Correlations to pitch velocity were identified and used to create a regression learner predictive neural network. The neural network allows pitch velocity to be determined within 2.325 mph, without maximum effort...

Through an experimental decoupling of whole-body metabolic and muscle activation-related costs, we provide empirical evidence of humans embracing non-metabolic optimality in favor of a clearly defined neuromuscular objective.

Persons in law enforcement often encounter physically demanding tasks while working. However, this population has also been shown to have increased risk of cardiovascular disease and injury. We had 20 participants perform self-assessment of fitness then quantitatively measured cardiovascular fitness...