Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Development Of A Computational Methodology For Evaluating In Vivo Vertebral Mechanics In Subjects Having Various Conditions Of The Lumbar Spine, Christopher Brian Carr

Doctoral Dissertations

Treating and evaluating the causes of low back pain (LBP) is difficult and not fully understood. However, assessing the in vivo motions and loading characteristics in the lumbar spine may provide important data for progressing the diagnosis and treatment of pathologies linked with LBP.

This dissertation describes the development of a comprehensive approach for collecting both the kinematics and kinetics of the lumbar vertebrae under in vivo conditions. Forty-four subjects representing healthy, symptomatic, pathological, and surgically implanted (pre- and post-operative) conditions of the lumbar spine were evaluated using dynamic fluoroscopy and 3D-to-2D image registration to assess the motions of the …

Method For Determination Of Kinematic Sensor Position And Orientation From Magnetic Resonance Images, Caglar Ozturk

ETD Archive

Concussion and mild traumatic brain injury risk remain high for young athletes participating in helmeted and non-helmeted sports. Because of the short and potential long-term effects on young athletes and early onset Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, there is a dire need to correlate a relationship between head impact intensity, frequency, duration and athlete brain health. To address this need, the Cleveland Clinic is developing a custom mouthguard embedded with flexible circuitry and sensors, known as the 'Intelligent Mouthguard'(IMG). To accurately quantify peak values of head impacts or concussions, orientation and position of each sensor relative to CG (Center of Gravity) …

Biomechanical Comparison Of Lower Limb Unloading Between Common Modalities Of Ankle Foot Orthoses, Andrea Blake Wanamaker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tibial stress fractures and other lower extremity injuries can be treated using an ankle foot orthosis (AFO). AFOs are popular because they allow the patient to ambulate somewhat naturally while reducing weight bearing on the injured limb. Despite their popularity, it is currently unclear how well AFOs reduce lower extremity weight bearing.

The first objective of this investigation was to examine the ability of three commonly used ankle foot orthoses to reduce weight bearing within the lower limb by comparing the ground reaction force measured from a force platform to the force measured from an insole pressure measurement device inside …

Foot And Ankle Motion Analysis Using Dynamic Radiographic Imaging, Benjamin Donald Mchenry

Dissertations (1934 -)

Lower extremity motion analysis has become a powerful tool used to assess the dynamics of both normal and pathologic gait in a variety of clinical and research settings. Early rigid representations of the foot have recently been replaced with multi-segmental models capable of estimating intra-foot motion. Current models using externally placed markers on the surface of the skin are easily implemented, but suffer from errors associated with soft tissue artifact, marker placement repeatability, and rigid segment assumptions. Models using intra-cortical bone pins circumvent these errors, but their invasive nature has limited their application to research only. Radiographic models reporting gait …