Abstract Archive

A custom-built continuous wave radar was used to record cycling movements performed by 15 healthy individuals. Doppler signatures presented in the radar signals were analyzed to extract temporal parameters of the movement. Standard motion capture was performed to validate the radar results. Large co...

Research and design of ankle-foot prostheses has largely focused on optimizing ankle function; however, the potential benefits of modifying the foot keel remain relatively unexplored. In particular, the addition of a toe joint has the potential to positively impact the gait biomechanics of prostheti...

This study investigates the mechanical effect of load-bearing through a prosthetic socket on the residuum of a transfemoral amputee using a combined musculoskeletal and finite element modelling approach. We use finite element results to estimate the risk of bone resorption in the amputated femur whe...

Load carriage is an essential component of combat operations sometimes requiring warfighters to maintain a walking gait (forced march) at a velocity beyond the normal gait transition point. Little is known about the biomechanical consequences of forced marching on lower extremity kinematics for fema...

Biomechanical tests aim the understanding of the structure-function relationship often require time-consuming preparation of the samples. During preparation of the tendon samples, occurs an unfavorable effect of sample drying that leads to ultimate dehydration. To invert the impact of tissue samples...

The effect of a secondary blocking action on the primary long snapping action was tested in this study. Comparison of reaction forces (RFs) and linear impulse revealed that players increased posterior RF while maintaining resultant RF with a secondary blocking action. A larger posterior linear impul...

Skeletal muscles normally take the form of muscle-tendon unit (MTU) where muscle fibers act as activation-driven actuators while tendinous tissues act as viscoelastic springs.The interaction of the two components can be optimized for enhancing motor performance in a mechanically efficient manner, an...

This study aims to present a method of quantifying regional load transfer between consecutive footsteps in typically developed children to determine the effect of the proceeding step on foot ground pressures during the subsequent step.

The stride interval variability and complexity were analysed to gain insights into the development of running-related injuries. Yet, it remains unknown the reliability of the stride interval variability and complexity measured at different days and sides. The present study estimated the between-day ...

Decline in postural control and balance is an established risk factor contributing to falls in older population. An accuracy and affordable assessment device would be beneficial for investigating postural and balance performance which then refer to falls risk management. We examined a) the correlati...

Motor control complexity is reduced in individuals with cerebral palsy. However, it is unclear whether the observed reduction is a product of the primary neurologic injury or an outcome from a pathologic gait pattern. In this study, motor control complexity was evaluated for typically-developing (TD...

Motor control complexity, calculated from muscle synergies, offers a convenient metric to evaluate impairment level in individuals with neuromuscular disorders; however, the role of such measures in rehabilitation remains unclear due, in part, to a limited understanding of the modulability of motor ...

The purpose of this study was to compare anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk factors between female dancers and female soccer players during single- and double-leg drop landing vertical jump tasks. The female dancers landed with a significantly lower trunk flexion, trunk external rotation, ...

This study evaluated the lifting kinematics and muscle activation for an occupational lifting task before and after a three-hour simulated driving task. No changes in upper body lifting kinematics were found however, there were significant differences in maximum and mean percent muscle activation le...

We present Feasibility Theory, a conceptual and computational framework to unify today’s theories of neuromuscular control. We begin by describing how the musculoskeletal anatomy of the limb, the need to control individual tendons, and the physics of a motor task uniquely specify the family of all...

Muscles exhibit history-dependence where forces in response to stretch are higher if muscle is isometric prior to stretch. This short-range stiffness is critical for generating the initial stabilizing torques reactive balance after perturbations, before sensorimotor muscle responses occur. Moreover,...

This study aimed to verify which normalization procedure (mass or non-dimensional normalization) better eliminates the influence of body parameters on joint moments during stair ascent in the elderly. None of the tested methods was able to consistently remove the influence of body parameters on join...

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...

This study aimed to investigate how the variability associated with human-provided physical assistance impacts patient locomotor training outcomes. To this end, a cyberphysical rehabilitation system was developed that allowed assistive forces to be rendered on patients by either a human therapist or...

We compared movement accuracy and smoothness during goal-directed reaching movements in myoelectric prosthesis users and able-bodied controls. We measured movement accuracy as the distance error in matching a virtual target and quantified trajectory smoothness as the spectral arc-length (SPARC). Mov...

To estimate the contribution of individual muscles to steadily control measurable net force during isometric contractions in a multiple-muscle model, we calculated cross correlation function between isometric plantarflexion force and rectified surface EMG (rEMG) of the involved muscles in low freque...

The objective of the present study was to verify the effects of different levels of fatigue on intralimb coordination during the countermovement jump (CMJ). Seventeen male participants performed two fatigue protocols (7 x 10 CMJs and 14 x 10 CMJs). A CMJ was performed before and 1 min after the fati...

A hallmark of human movement is its variability, reflected in normal fluctuations in motor performance that occur across multiple repetitions of a task (e.g. stride-to-stride, pedal cycle-to-pedal cycle). To better understand how skeletal muscles are recruited for different movement tasks it is ther...

In this work we present a control algorithm for restoring movements in paralyzed limbs through functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS). We employed a nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) in conjunction with an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). Both the NMPC and EKF were equipped with a neurom...

Slip and fall events are a major cause of occupational injuries. Footwear is an important consideration for assessing risk of slipping. Previous research has shown that shoe tread fluid drainage capabilities contributes to slip likelihood and that slip-resistant (SR) shoes tend to have better tracti...

An accurate and reliable procedure to co-register CT and MR images of the cervical spine (C1-C7) is essential to construct a personalized model of the neck musculoskeletal system. In this study, we proposed principal component analysis (PCA) based a simple and fully automated registration technique ...

Walk is an economic activity, as more efficient mechanical contribution, less is necessary from metabolic input. Patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and hear transplanted (HT) present peripheral musculoskeletal disorders, dyspnea and fatigue in their activities. Objective: to verify the associ...

Musculoskeletal models of the hand rarely include contact mechanics, thereby limiting our ability to model hand-object interactions. Here, two common contact models are used to examine finger-tip contact forces. The contact force is sensitive to finger pad size, when using the elastic foundation mod...