Engineering Commons^™

Erosion Resistant Rock Shoulder, Chung R. Song, Richard L. Wood, Basil Abualshar, Mark O'Brien, Bashar Al-Nimri, Mitra Nasimi

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Highway shoulder rocks are exposed to continuous erosion force due to unexpected floodings caused by climate change. The evaluation methods of the erosion resistance of highway shoulder rocks are not currently well-developed. This study developed a new large-scale testing device, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Erosion Testing Bed (UNLETB), which has the capability of testing the shoulder gravels. Different gradations were tested using UNLETB, and the results distinguished a high-resistant group and a low-resistant group. The low resistant group was treated with different binding agents: Ammonium Lignosulfonate (LIGNO10), Soybean Soap Stock, and DirtGlue. The treated samples showed better erosion resistance based …

Aggregate Characteristics For Unpaved Highway Shoulders, Jessica V. Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studied unpaved highway shoulders, and in particular shoulders of lower volume asphalt pavements being overlaid. The primary objective was to better understand how different shoulder aggregates perform on lower volume routes with asphalt surfaces and relatively narrow shoulders. A literature review and an evaluation of a full-scale test section containing five aggregate categories in nine test sections over a thirty-four-month period were the primary efforts performed to evaluate unpaved highway shoulders. The study concluded shoulder width measurements were not especially informative, and that California Bearing Ratio measurements were only modestly informative. Crushed concrete outperformed all other aggregates, though …

Back And Shoulder Exoskeletons For Occupational Use: A Review, Erkan Ozan

Theses

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) account for a large portion of all work-related injuries according to OSHA. Back and shoulder-related disorders make the most of work-related MSDs according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Exoskeletons emerged in recent years with the potential to reduce the risks of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and injuries. Their use in occupational settings is increasing, and exoskeleton designs are rapidly evolving. This paper reviewed recent scientific articles (2015 and after) that evaluated back and shoulder-support passive industrial exoskeletons. The findings of these articles are summarized and analyzed to assess the benefits of passive upper-body exoskeletons by …

Full-Body Biomechanical Characterization Of Children With Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome During Gait And Activities Of Daily Living, Anahita Alahmoradiqashqai

Theses and Dissertations

Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) is an inherited connective tissue disorder, often under-diagnosed, and presenting with frequent chronic pain and severe musculoskeletal symptoms that can drastically reduce the quality of life during one’s life span. While there are limited quantitative approaches in the literature on adult movements, the biomechanics of movements during activities of daily living (ADLs) in children have not been investigated comprehensively. Therefore, the primary purpose of this dissertation was to characterize the biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system and investigate the biomechanics of hEDS by quantifying joint dynamics and muscle activations during ADLs and gait in the pediatric population. …

The Use Of Ct To Assess Shoulder Kinematics And Measure Glenohumeral Arthrokinematics, Baraa Daher

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Recently, studies have started employing dynamic four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) imaging as a biomechanical assessment tool. These studies would benefit from the valuable work that has been done in the past using three-dimensional computed tomography (3DCT). Thus, a structured review was conducted to examine the extent and range of methods employing CT imaging to measure shoulder kinematics. The findings of the review were utilized to conduct a study that employed 4DCT imaging to measure glenohumeral joint congruency and arthrokinematics during internal rotation to the back in a population of healthy individuals. The results of this work show the importance of …

Effects Of Seat And Axle Position On Pain, Pathology, And Independence In Pediatric Manual Wheelchair Users With Spinal Cord Injury, Hannah Frank

Theses and Dissertations

Manual wheelchair (MWC) users with spinal cord injury (SCI) rely heavily on their upperextremities to complete daily occupations. Due to repetitive shoulder use during wheelchair mobility and propulsion, MWC users are at greater risk of shoulder pain and shoulder pathology, and thus decreased independence, and lower quality of life. The relative fit of the wheelchair and its parameters are critical and can further impact the user’s propulsion biomechanics. Parameters such as seat angle and axle position may put the user in detrimental shoulder positions for longer periods of time, impacting health outcomes even more. Although the effects of wheelchair setup …

Inverse Dynamics Analysis Of Youth Pitching Arm Kinetics Using Body Composition Imaging, Jay A. Sterner, Scott K. Reaves, Arnel L. Aguinaldo, Scott Hazelwood, Stephen M. Klisch

Biomedical Engineering

This study’s objectives were to: (1) assess whether dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-mass inverse dynamics (ID) alters predictions of youth pitching arm kinetics and (2) investigate correlations between kinetics and body composition. Eighteen 10- to 11-year-olds pitched 10 fastballs. DXA scans were conducted to obtain participant-specific upper arm, forearm, and hand masses. Pitching arm segment masses and kinetics calculated with scaled and DXA masses were compared with paired t-tests and correlations were investigated with linear regression. Hand (p < 0.001) and upper arm (p < 0.001) DXA masses were greater, while forearm (p < 0.001) DXA masses were lesser, than their scaled masses. Shoulder compressive force (p < 0.001), internal rotation torque (p < 0.001), and horizontal adduction torque (p = 0.002) increased when using DXA masses. Shoulder compressive force correlated with body mass (p < 0.001) and body mass index (BMI; p = 0.002) and elbow varus torque correlated with body mass (p < 0.05). The main conclusions were that (1) using participant-specific mass ratios leads to different predictions of injury-related pitching arm kinetics and, thus, may improve our understanding of injury risk factors; and (2) pitching arm kinetics were correlated with body composition measures and a relatively high total body mass and/or BMI may increase shoulder and/or elbow injury risk.

Evaluation Of Control Strategies For Overhead Work Using Electromyography Of Rotator Cuff Muscles, Hossein Motabar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) of shoulder have a significant impact on overall health and economics in the industrialized nations. Rotator cuff is the most frequently injured region in the shoulder complex. Overhead work is considered as one of the most predominant causes of rotator cuff injuries. The workers in construction, automotive, and aerospace industries are routinely exposed to overhead exertions. Elimination of overhead work is nearly impossible due to various task and technology constraints. Therefore, appropriate intervention strategies based on the engineering and administrative controls opt to be used to prevent the hazardous impact of overhead exertions. The objective of …

Implications Of Variability Of Electromyographic Measurements For Assessing Localized Muscle Fatigue, Hamad Nasser Alasim

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The impact of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) is enormous due to a combination of direct and indirect costs associated with healthcare, lost workdays and human suffering. Because of the established relationship between Localized Muscle Fatigue (LMF) development and WMSDs, and in order to reduce and/or prevent WMSDs in workplaces, different fatigue assessment methods have been developed. Surface Electromyography (SEMG) is a commonly used LMF assessment technique. The SEMG signals are typically analyzed in time and frequency domains to predict LMF based on a relative change with respect to initial, or under no-fatigue conditions. Quantifying such change, however, relies on the …

Artificial Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty Joint Project, Michael Rosen, Bailei Hoyng

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This proposed project will be developing an artificial reverse shoulder arthroplasty joint that focuses on improvements to the Zimmer Biomet Comprehensive Reverse System by freating a unique feature, or features, to the humeral component that focuses on the prevention of dislocation by not limiting the range of motion of men from ages 45 to 65 years.

The development of the this project will utilize the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) medical device design process. This project will involve a total of four Biomedical Engineering students from the University of Akron. Two students, Michael and Bailei, are in the Honors college …

A Shoulder Mechanisms For Assisting Upper Arm Function With Distally Located Actuators, Michael Jones

Honors College

This thesis presents a new design for a shoulder assistive device based on a modified double parallelogram linkage (DPL). The DPL allows for active support of the arm motion in the sagittal plane, while enabling the use of a distally located motor that can be mounted around the user’s waist to improve the weight distribution. The development of the DPL provides an unobtrusive mechanism for assisting the movement of the shoulder joint through a wide range of motion. This design contains three degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) and a rigid structure for supporting the arm. The modified DPL uses a cable-driven system to …

Evaluation Of The Rotr 1: An Innovative Device To Reactively Strengthen The Shoulder, Bradley Tomio Yet Kong Hirayama

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study assesses the effectiveness of an innovative shoulder training and rehabilitation device, the Rotr 1. The device uses mechanically created motion to disturb the balance of muscular forces around the shoulder, thereby facilitating dynamic training of the muscles. The hypothesis is that random disturbances provided by the device would potentially in-crease shoulder muscle activation as users try to resist the device’s motion. To test the efficacy of the device, shoulder muscle activation from two groups (ten non-athletes and seven athletes), was assessed in three different shoulder positions and four different exercise conditions (aka configurations). Muscle activation of seven different …

Inter-Joint Coordination Deficits Revealed In The Decomposition Of Endpoint Jerk During Goal-Directed Arm Movement After Stroke, Jozsef Laczko, Robert A. Scheidt, Lucia Simo, Davide Piovesan

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

It is well documented that neurological deficits after stroke can disrupt motor control processes that affect the smoothness of reaching movements. The smoothness of hand trajectories during multi-joint reaching depends on shoulder and elbow joint angular velocities and their successive derivatives as well as on the instantaneous arm configuration and its rate of change. Right-handed survivors of unilateral hemiparetic stroke and neurologically-intact control participants held the handle of a two-joint robot and made horizontal planar reaching movements. We decomposed endpoint jerk into components related to shoulder and elbow joint angular velocity, acceleration, and jerk. We observed an abnormal decomposition pattern …

Review On Design And Control Aspects Of Robotic Shoulder Rehabilitation Orthoses, Aibek Niyetkaliyev, Shahid Hussain, Mergen Hmcgill University, Ghayesh, Gursel Alici

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Robotic rehabilitation devices are more frequently used for the physical therapy of people with upper limb weakness, which is the most common type of stroke-induced disability. Rehabilitation robots can provide customized, prolonged, intensive, and repetitive training sessions for patients with neurological impairments. In most cases, the robotic exoskeletons have to be aligned with the human joints and provide natural arm movements. This is a challenging task to achieve for one of the most biomechanically complex joints of human body, i.e., the shoulder. Therefore, specific considerations have been made in the development of various existing robotic shoulder rehabilitation orthoses. Different types …

Statistical Shape And Intensity Modeling Of The Shoulder, Irene Sintini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anatomical variability in the shoulder is inherently present and can influence healthy and pathologic biomechanics and ultimately clinical decision-making. Characterizing variation in bony morphology and material properties in the population can support treatment and specifically the design, via shape and sizing, of shoulder implants. Total Shoulder Arthroplasty (TSA) is the treatment of choice for glenohumeral osteoarthritis as well as bone fracture. Complications and poor outcomes in TSA are generally influenced by the inability of the implant to replicate the natural joint biomechanics and by the bone quality around the fixation features. For this reason, knowledge of bony morphology and mechanical …

The Role Of Scapular Morphology In Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty, Ashish Gupta

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Baseplate fixation in a reverse shoulder arthroplasty depends on adequate bone stock. In cases of severe glenoid bone loss and revision shoulder arthroplasty, deficiency of the glenoid vault compels the surgeon to attain screw fixation in the three columns of the scapula. The relationship of these columns demonstrated that the coracoid is closer to the lateral scapular pillar in females than in males. Significant gender dimorphism exists between the orientations of the three columns. The gender dimorphism is further evaluated by anthropometric measurements of the scapular body and the glenoid. The clinical significance lies in the ability to reconstruct the …

Wearable Imu For Shoulder Injury Prevention In Overhead Sports, Samir A. Rawashdeh, Derek A. Rafeldt, Timothy L. Uhl

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Body-worn inertial sensors have enabled motion capture outside of the laboratory setting. In this work, an inertial measurement unit was attached to the upper arm to track and discriminate between shoulder motion gestures in order to help prevent shoulder over-use injuries in athletics through real-time preventative feedback. We present a detection and classification approach that can be used to count the number of times certain motion gestures occur. The application presented involves tracking baseball throws and volleyball serves, which are common overhead movements that can lead to shoulder and elbow overuse injuries. Eleven subjects are recruited to collect training, testing, …

Markerless Radiostereogammetry Of The Shoulder Joint In Humans: Comparisons Of Scapulohumeral Kinematics Between Individuals With Healthy And Supraspinatus-Impaired Shoulders, Ashley N. Hannon

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this collection of studies was to further develop the knowledge of shoulder motion in order to better understand joint function through direct measurement of 3D scapulohumeral joint kinematics using a technique of high accuracy. Markerless, bi-planar fluoroscopic radiostereometric analysis using a generic shoulder model was developed in this thesis, reducing the amount of radiation exposure to subjects. The studies compared kinematic data of the scapulohumeral joint in six degrees of freedom with a precise, in-vivo measuring technique. Data were collected on young and older healthy individuals, individuals with a torn supraspinatus and post-surgical intervention.

Although this generic …

Development Of A Physical Shoulder Simulator For The Training Of Basic Arthroscopic Skills, Laura C. Mccracken

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Increasingly, shoulder surgeries are performed using arthroscopic techniques, leading to reduced tissue damage and shorter patient recovery times. Orthopaedic training programs are responding to the increased demand for arthroscopic surgeries by incorporating arthroscopic skills into their residency curriculums. A need for accessible and effective training tools exists.

This thesis describes the design and development of a physical shoulder simulator for training basic arthroscopy skills such as triangulation, orientation, and navigation of the anatomy. The simulator can be used in either the lateral decubitus or beach chair orientation and accommodates wet or dry practice. Sensors embedded in the simulator provide a …

Finite Element Modeling Of The Proximal Humerus To Compare Stemless, Short And Standard Stem Humeral Components Of Varying Material Stiffness For Shoulder Arthroplasty, Najmeh Razfar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In patients with debilitating pain due to osteoarthritis, total shoulder arthroplasty can restore function and provide effective pain relief. Newer implant designs vary in length and material stiffness. Unfortunately, literature on these newer implants is limited. This thesis investigates the effect of stem length and implant material stiffness on proximal humeral bone stresses. 3D bone models with implants of various stem lengths (stemless, short, and standard) and different material stiffness’s (CoCr, Ti and PEEK) were generated using MIMICS, Solidworks and ABAQUS for varying abduction angles (15°, 45° and 75°). Cortical and trabecular stresses were contrasted with the intact bone state. …

Real-Time Simulation Of Three-Dimensional Shoulder Girdle And Arm Dynamics, Edward K. Chadwick, Dimitra Blana, Robert F. Kirsch, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert

Antonie J. van den Bogert

Electrical stimulation is a promising technology for the restoration of arm function in paralyzed individuals. Control of the paralyzed arm under electrical stimulation, however, is a challenging problem that requires advanced controllers and command interfaces for the user. A real-time model describing the complex dynamics of the arm would allow user-in-the-loop type experiments where the command interface and controller could be assessed. Real-time models of the arm previously described have not included the ability to model the independently controlled scapula and clavicle, limiting their utility for clinical applications of this nature. The goal of this study therefore was to evaluate …

Construction And Assessment Of A Computer Graphics-Based Model For Wheelchair Propulsion, Brooke Marie Odle

Dissertations

Upper limb overuse injuries are common in manual wheelchair using persons with spinal cord injury (SCI), especially those with tetraplegia. Biomechanical analyses involving kinetics, kinematics, and muscle mechanics provide an opportunity to identify modifiable risk factors associated with wheelchair propulsion and upper limb overuse injuries that may be used toward developing prevention and treatment interventions. However, these analyses are limited because they cannot estimate muscle forces in vivo. Patient-specific computer graphics-based models have enhanced biomechanical analyses by determining in vivo estimates of shoulder muscle and joint contact forces. Current models do not include deep shoulder muscles. Also, patient-specific models …

Skeletal Muscle Contraction Simulation: A Comparison In Modeling, Jonathan M. Ford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Computer generated three-dimensional (3-D) models are being used at increasing rates in the fields of entertainment, education, research, and engineering. One of the aspects of interest includes the behavior and function of the musculoskeletal system. One such tool used by engineers is the finite element method (FEM) to simulate the physics behind muscle mechanics. There are several ways to represent 3-D muscle geometry, namely a bulk, a central line of action and a spline model. The purpose of this study is to exmine how these three representations affect the overall outcome of muscle movement. This is examined in a series …

Mechanical Structures Resisting Anterior Instability In A Computational Glenohumeral Joint Model, Kevin Elmore

Theses and Dissertations

The glenohumeral joint is the most dislocated joint in the body due to the lack of bony constraints and dependence on soft tissue, primarily muscles and ligaments, to stabilize the joint. The goal of this study was to develop a computational model of the glenohumeral joint whereby joint behavior was dictated by articular contact, ligamentous constraints, muscle loading, and external perturbations. Validation of this computational model was achieved by comparing predicted results from the model to the results of a cadaveric experiment in which the relative contribution of muscles and ligaments to anterior joint stability was examined. The results showed …

A Real-Time, 3-D Musculoskeletal Model For Dynamic Simulation Of Arm Movements, Edward K. Chadwick, Dimitra Blana, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert, Robert F. Kirsch

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Neuroprostheses can be used to restore movement of the upper limb in individuals with high-level spinal cord injury. Development and evaluation of command and control schemes for such devices typically require real-time, ldquopatient-in-the-looprdquo experimentation. A real-time, 3-D, musculoskeletal model of the upper limb has been developed for use in a simulation environment to allow such testing to be carried out noninvasively. The model provides real-time feedback of human arm dynamics that can be displayed to the user in a virtual reality environment. The model has a 3-DOF glenohumeral joint as well as elbow flexion/extension and pronation/supination and contains 22 muscles …

In-Vivo 3d Motion Estimation Of The Shoulder Joint Utilizing Magnetic Resonance Imaging During A Simulated Push Task, D. M. Magnusson, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert, J. L. Ronsky

Antonie J. van den Bogert

No abstract provided.

Accidents Involving Vehicles Parked On Shoulders Of Limited Access Highways, Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This study was conducted to quantify the extent of the problem of accidents involving vehicles on shoulders of limited access highways. Accident data for a three-year period (1985-1987) were collected along with a survey of vehicles stopped on the shoulder on interstates and parkways.

While the percentage of all accidents on interstates and parkways involving a vehicle on the shoulder is small (1.8 percent), the percentage of fatal accidents involving a vehicle on the shoulder is significant (11.1 percent). The accident data revealed that the majority of shoulder vehicles had stopped for an emergency stop as opposed to a leisure …