Biomechanics Commons^™

Modeling, Analysis, And Simulation To Reveal The Mechanisms Of Ciliary Beating, Louis Woodhams

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Cilia are microscopic cellular appendages that help us breathe by clearing our airways, maintain the health of our central nervous system by circulating cerebrospinal fluid, and allow us to reproduce by transporting eggs and propelling sperm cells. Cilia even determine the asymmetry of our internal organs during embryonic development. However, the mechanisms underlying ciliary beating are not fully understood. Questions remain as to how arrays of the motor protein dynein generate the propulsive waveforms observed in cilia and how structural elements within the cilium and its connection to the cell deform during beating. In the current work, mathematical modeling, analysis, …

A Biomechanical Approach To Prevent Falls In Ergonomic Settings, Sachini Kodithuwakku Arachchige

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Fall-related injuries are exceptionally prevalent in occupational settings. While endangering the workers’ health, falls cause poor productivity and increased economic burden in the workplace. Hence, identifying these threats and training workers to achieve proper postural control is crucial. Purpose: Study 1: To investigate the ankle joint kinematics in unexpected and expected trip responses during single-tasking (ST), dual-tasking (DT), and triple-tasking (TT), before and after a physically fatiguing exercise. Study 2: To investigate the impact of virtual heights, DT, and training on static postural stability and cognitive processing. Methods: Study 1: Twenty collegiate volunteers (10 males and females, one left …

Utilization Of Finite Element Analysis Techniques For Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Surgical Planning, Michael A. Polanco

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis, a three-dimensional deformity of the thoracolumbar spine, affects approximately 1-3% of patients ages 10-18. Surgical correction and treatment of the spinal column is a costly and high-risk task that is consistently complicated by factors such as patient-specific spinal deformities, curve flexibility, and surgeon experience. The following dissertation utilizes finite element analysis to develop a cost-effective, building-block approach by which surgical procedures and kinematic evaluations may be investigated. All studies conducted are based off a volumetric, thoracolumbar finite element (FE) model developed from computer-aided design (CAD) anatomy whose components are kinematically validated with in-vitro data. Spinal ligament stiffness …

Barrier Knockdown Test Control System For The Cal Poly Kinesiology Department, Regina M. Chapuis

Computer Engineering

The goal of this project is to design and implement a new control system for the LEDs and buttons on an existing Barrier Knockdown setup in the Cal Poly Kinesiology department. The Barrier Knockdown test is a testing apparatus in which subjects knock down a series of mechanical barriers in one of three patterns. The computer system times their reaction and movement time, and the test as a whole provides students with data to study the phenomenon of Contextual Interference. This system was previously controlled by an old computer setup that ultimately crashed. This project recreates the logic and user …

Electromechanical Fatigue Properties Of Dielectric Elastomer Stretch Sensors Under Orthopaedic Loading Conditions, Andrea Karen Persons

Theses and Dissertations

Fatigue testing of stretch sensors often focuses on high amplitude, low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior; however, when used for orthopaedic, athletic, or ergonomic assessments, stretch sensors are subjected to low amplitude, high-cycle fatigue (HCF) conditions. As an added layer of complexity, the fatigue testing of stretch sensors is not only focused on the life of the material comprising the sensor, but also on the reliability of the signal produced during the extension and relaxation of the sensor. Research into the development of a smart sock that can be used to measure the range of motion (ROM) of the ankle joint during …

The Mobility And Cognitive Mechanisms Involved In Altering Gait Speed In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Alyssa Olivas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Autism is a socio-behavioral disorder, and diagnoses are conducted through behavioral screening instruments. Recent research suggests motor deficits may be a core symptom of the disorder, as children with autism present with deficits in motor development, locomotor skills, and postural instability. In addition, children with autism often have affected, executive function, attention, and perception cognitive domains. Different gait speeds have been used to examine gait adaptations in other clinical populations. Additionally, individuals with decreased cognitive abilities have demonstrated difficulties in modulating their walking speed. There is limited research on mechanisms children with autism use to alter their gait speed, or …

Predicting The Progression Of Diabetes Mellitus Using Dynamic Plantar Pressure Parameters, Mathew Sunil Varre

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is one of the common complications of type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Changes in the intrinsic plantar tissue coupled with repetitive mechanical loads and loss of sensation may lead to foot related complications (skin break down, ulcerations, and amputations) in persons with neuropathy if left untreated. The purpose of this dissertation was to stratify individuals with pre-diabetes, diabetes with and without neuropathy using dynamic plantar pressure parameters during walking, using machine learning algorithms.Methods: Plantar pressure data was collected from one hundred participants during walking with pressure measuring insoles fixed between the feet and thin socks. Simultaneously high-definition …

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 Optimal Relationship Between Actuator Stiffness And Actuation Timing For A Passive Ankle Exoskeleton: An Opensim Simulation, Cody Anderson, Hafizur Rahman, Sara Myers

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Introduction

The passive ankle exoskeleton developed by Collins et al. (2015) reduced the metabolic cost of walking with an actuation-timing of ~16% of stance [1]; however, other actuation timings have not been extensively investigated. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the optimal relationship between actuator-stiffness and actuation-timing for a passive ankle exoskeleton by using musculoskeletal modeling.

Methods

Kinematics and ground reaction forces were recorded while a healthy-young male walked on overground force-plates, and these data were exported to a musculoskeletal modeling software (OpenSim) for simulation. A passive ankle exoskeleton model was designed and integrated with a default …

Design And Development Of Software With A Graphical User Interface To Display And Convert Multiple Microscopic Histology Images, Sayed Ahmadreza Razian, Majid Jadidi, Alexey Kamenskiy

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Histological images are widely used to assess the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Recent advancements in image analysis allow the identification of structural features on histological sections that can help advance medical device development, brain and cancer research, drug discovery, vascular mechanobiology, and many other fields. Histological slide scanners create images in SVS and TIFF formats that were designed to archive image blocks and high-resolution textual information. Because these formats were primarily intended for storage, they are often not compatible with conventional image analysis software and require conversion before they can be used in research. We have developed a user-friendly …

Biomechanical Evaluation Of Hand Representation For Typing In Virtual Reality, Mobasshira Zaman

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Virtual reality (VR) is becoming popular in the workplace recently. Text entry is thus now important for efficient office use and occupational use of VR, and VR paired with a conventional keyboard is suitable for long text entry. There has been a lack of research on physical demand, posture, motion, and cognitive demand, along with the performance of typing on VR. Presence of virtual hands while typing in VR may affect typing performance, physical demand, and posture. The focus of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical effect of hand representation for typing on VR using a conventional keyboard. Fifteen …

Characterizing Locomotor Disturbance Perception In Young Adults, Daniel James Liss

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Falls during walking are a leading cause of injuries across aging. Many of these falls are due to slips and trips. The ability to perceive disturbances to ongoing motion may play an important role in the control of walking balance. However, disturbance perception has been investigated in standing balance, but its role in walking balance due to slip- and trip-like disturbances remains largely unknown. Characterizing locomotor disturbance perception in young adults may lead to a more comprehensive understanding of sensorimotor walking balance control.

This work defined locomotor disturbance perception in response to slip and trip-like disturbances in young adults. We …

Exploration Of Warm-Up Protocols On Muscular Fatigue, Sahil Kapadia

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Muscular dystrophy is a genetically linked myopathy with no cure available. The lack of a cure makes early detection and treatment of muscular dystrophy imperative. When reviewing protocols examining muscular fatigue at submaximal isometric contractions, proper warm-up appeared to be absent and could have caused skewed results and conclusions. This study examines the effects of implementing a warm-up protocol before fatiguing trials. In this study, 10 adult subjects conducted fatiguing protocols with the right rectus at submaximal isometric contractions. The warm-up period included a light walk along with contractions at 20% and 33% of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) levels. …

Using Skeleton Correction To Improve Flash Lidar-Based Gait Recognition, Nasrin Sadeghzadehyazdi, Tamal Batabyal, Alexander Glandon, Nibir Dhar, Babajide Familoni, Khan Iftekharuddin, Scott T. Acton

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents GlidarPoly, an efficacious pipeline of 3D gait recognition for flash lidar data based on pose estimation and robust correction of erroneous and missing joint measurements. A flash lidar can provide new opportunities for gait recognition through a fast acquisition of depth and intensity data over an extended range of distance. However, the flash lidar data are plagued by artifacts, outliers, noise, and sometimes missing measurements, which negatively affects the performance of existing analytics solutions. We present a filtering mechanism that corrects noisy and missing skeleton joint measurements to improve gait recognition. Furthermore, robust statistics are integrated with …

Study Protocol To Analyze The Effects Of Posture And Exoskeleton On Human Exposure To Hand-Transmitted Vibration, Parisa Torkinejad Ziarati

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Exposure to power hand tool-generated vibrations may lead to several health disorders collectively known as hand-arm vibration (HAV) syndromes. Power hand tools are often used in overhead postures in the manufacturing and construction industries. However, HAV risks are examined in the front-of-body posture in the existing safety standards and guidelines. Therefore, it is important to understand the effects of overhead working posture on vibration transmissibility (VT) in the upper extremities (UEs) and the spine. Secondly, there is a rising trend of using occupational exoskeletons (Exos) in the manufacturing and construction industries, especially involving overhead work with power hand tools. However, …