Biomechanics Commons^™

Hip Power Asymmetry In Older Adult Fallers And Non-Fallers, Lauren Grace Mcdonald

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference exists in hip power asymmetry between community-dwelling older adult fallers and non-fallers. Hypothesis: fallers would be more asymmetrical than non-fallers. Participants: 21 non-fallers (10 females, 11 males) and 18 fallers (14 females, 4 males) over the age of 65 (76.5 ± 6.9yrs). Method: Isokinetic peak torque during flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction at four velocities was recorded as measures of leg power. Asymmetry equaled the percent of power difference between each leg. Data analysis: Differences in age, physical activity, height, weight, and BMI were assessed …

Differences In Muscle Activation In The Lower Extremities While Performing Traditional Squats And Non-Traditional Squats, Christopher M. Scotten

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: To determine if muscle activation in the lower back and lower extremities differ when performing traditional squats compared to non-traditional (forward center of pressure on foot) squats. The erector spinae, hamstrings, quadriceps, adductor longus, gastrocnemius, and gluteus maximus muscles were monitored for differences in this study. There are several variations of the back squat and each variation may possibly target muscles differently. Determining if non-traditional squats leads to larger erector spinae muscle activation, which in turn may lead to more lower back fatigue and possible lower back injury is a major aim of this study. Participants: Thirteen healthy males …

Treatment With Pharmacological Agents In Peripheral Arterial Disease Patients Does Not Result In Biomechanical Gait Changes, Jessie M. Huisinga, Iraklis Pipinos, Nikolaos Stergiou, Jason Johanning

Journal Articles

Pharmacological treatment has been used to alleviate the claudication symptoms and improve walking performance in peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients. However, the effects of claudication treatments on gait mechanics have not been objectively indentified with biomechanical techniques. For this study, 20 PAD patients were assigned to take either pentoxifylline (n = 11) or cilostazol (n = 9), the two FDA-approved pharmacological therapies used to treat intermittent claudication symptoms. All patients completed a gait evaluation protocol that involved the acquisition of kinematic and kinetic gait data before use of the medication and after 12 weeks of treatment. Results showed that treatment …

Abnormal Joint Powers Before And After The Onset Of Claudication Symptoms, Panagiotis Koutakis, Jason Johanning, Sara A. Myers, Nikolaos Stergiou, G. Matthew Longo, Iraklis Pipinos

Journal Articles

Objective: Claudication is the most common manifestation of peripheral arterial disease, producing significant ambulatory compromise. Our study evaluated patients with bilateral lower limb claudication and characterized their gait abnormality based on advanced biomechanical analysis using joint torques and powers.

Methods: Twenty patients with bilateral claudication (10 with isolated aortoiliac disease and 10 with combined aortoiliac and femoropopliteal disease) and 16 matched controls ambulated on a walkway while 3-dimensional biomechanical data were collected. Patients walked before and after onset of claudication pain. Joint torques and powers at early, mid, and late stance for the hip, knee, and ankle joints were calculated …

Effect Of Tilted Surfaces On Ankle Kinematics And Emg Activities In Landing, Divya Bhaskaran

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of landing on a combined inverted and plantarflexed surface on the ankle kinematics and electromyographic (EMG) activities of the medial gastrocnemius (MG), peroneal longus (PL) and anterior tibialis muscles (TA). Twelve recreational athletes performed five drop landings from an overhead bar of 30 cm height on to each of these surfaces: a flat surface, a 25° inversion surface (inverted), and a combined surface (combined) of 25° inversion and 25° plantarflexion. The three dimensional kinematic variables and integrated EMG (IEMG) of the three muscles were assessed using one-way repeated measures analysis …

Joint Moments And Powers In Healthy Young Adults During Stair Negotiation, Mira M. Momcilovic

Student Work

The primary objective of this study was to determine lower limb joint moments and powers of stair negotiation in healthy young individuals. These results will provide baseline information for future studies with elderly and clinical populations designed to prevent falls that occur during stair negotiation. In previous stair negotiation studies, researchers investigated joint moments and powers initiating stair ascent in front of the stairway. Starting farther away from the stairway allows individuals to stabilize gait velocity and thus, exclude the influence of velocity on joint moments and powers generated during stair ascent. Ten young, healthy individuals underwent gait analysis during …

The Effect Of Virtual Reality On Gait Variability, Dimitrios Kastavelis, Mukul Mukherjee, Leslie M. Decker, Nikolaos Stergiou

Journal Articles

Optic Flow (OF) plays an important role in human locomotion and manipulation of OF characteristics can cause changes in locomotion patterns. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of the velocity of optic flow on the amount and structure of gait variability. Each subject underwent four conditions of treadmill walking at their self-selected pace. In three conditions the subjects walked in an endless virtual corridor, while a fourth control condition was also included. The three virtual conditions differed in the speed of the optic flow displayed as follows – same speed (OFn), faster (OFf), and slower (OFs) …

Hydrodynamic Fin Function Of Brief Squid, Lolliguncula Brevis, William J. Stewart, Ian K. Bartol, Paul S. Krueger

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Although the pulsed jet is often considered the foundation of a squid's locomotive system, the lateral fins also probably play an important role in swimming, potentially providing thrust, lift and dynamic stability as needed. Fin morphology and movement vary greatly among squid species, but the locomotive role of the fins is not well understood. To begin to elucidate the locomotive role of the fins in squids, fin hydrodynamics were studied in the brief squid Lolliguncula brevis, a species that exhibits a wide range of fin movements depending on swimming speed. Individual squid were trained to swim in both the …

The Effect Of Pharmacological Treatment On Gait Biomechanics In Peripheral Arterial Disease Patients, Jessie M. Huisinga, Iraklis Pipinos, Jason Johanning, Nikolaos Stergiou

Journal Articles

Background: Pharmacological treatment has been advocated as a first line therapy for Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) patients suffering from intermittent claudication. Previous studies document the ability of pharmacological treatment to increase walking distances. However, the effect of pharmacological treatment on gait biomechanics in PAD patients has not been objectively evaluated as is common with other gait abnormalities. Methods: Sixteen patients were prescribed an FDA approved drug (Pentoxifylline or Cilostazol) for the treatment of symptomatic PAD. Patients underwent baseline gait testing prior to medication use which consisted of acquisition of ground reaction forces and kinematics while walking in a pain free …

Evaluation Of A 3-Dimensional Inertial Tracking System For Quantifying Human Movement, David T. Delion

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an inertial tracking unit (ITU) by comparing it to an optical tracking system. The ITU was attached to a bowling ball along with reflective markers for the optical system. Each trial started with the ball at rest on a pedestal the ball was then hung from a steel cable 10 feet long and set in motion in an elliptical pattern for approximately 25 seconds. The ball was then removed from the cable and returned to the pedestal so as to end each trial at rest. This was repeated 10 times with 5 …

Effects Of Varying Amounts Of Pronation On The Mediolateral Ground Reaction Forces During Barefoot Versus Shod Running, Joanna B. Morley, Leslie M. Decker, Tracy Dierks, Daniel Blanke, Jeffrey French, Nikolaos Stergiou

Journal Articles

Despite extensive research on running mechanics, there is still a knowledge gap with respect to the degree of relationship between mediolateral ground reaction forces (ML-GRF) and foot pronation. Our goal was to investigate whether differences exist in ML-GRF among runners that exhibit different degrees of pronation. Seventeen male and 13 female recreational runners ran with and without shoes while ML-GRF and frontal kinematics were collected simultaneously. Subjects were divided into groups based upon their peak eversion (low pronation, middle pronation, high pronation). Discrete parameters from the ML-GRF were peak forces, respective times of occurrence, and impulses. No significant differences were …

Kinetics At Front Foot Contact Of Cricket Bowling During A 10-Over Spell, Jacobus Noël Liebenberg

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to determine what effect bowling a 10 over spell (60 balls) would have on approach velocity, vertical ground reaction forces and shock attenuation during the front foot contact of a delivery stride in cricket.

Ten Amateur cricket players (age 27±4 years, height 1.78±0.3 m, mass 80.6±8.5 kg) participated in the study. Testing was conducted at University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the Biomechanics laboratory. Participants performed a 10-over bowling spell from a 12 meter run-up. These dependent variables were measured and calculated during the bowling protocol: 1) approach velocity 2) vertical ground reaction force …

Effects Of Obesity On The Biomechanics Of Children’S Gait At Different Speeds, Philana-Lee Gouws

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and spatio-temporal gait characteristics of overweight/obese and non-obese school-aged children (12-14 years) at two different walking speeds. Eighty-four overweight/obese (n=28; age: 13.96 ± 0.79 yrs; mass: 74.8 ± 18.21 kg; height: 159.2 ± 7.1 cm and BMI: 29.28 ± 5.64 kg/m2) and non-obese students (n=56; age: 13.72 ± 0.79 yrs; mass: 51.7 ± 10.2 kg; height: 157.8 ± 8.3 cm and BMI: 20.69 ± 2.74 kg/m2) with no present injuries were recruited. Participants were instructed to walk across an electronic walkway in each of two …

A Biomechanical Analysis Of The Jete Dessus Using Dartfish Motion Analysis Software, Beatrice Turrubiartes

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Neuromechanical Analysis Of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Risk Factors In Female Collegiate Soccer Athletes, Nelson Cortes

Human Movement Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) acts in an essential role to prevent anterior tibial displacement when experiencing jump-landing forces that are applied to the lower extremity; more than 100,000 injuries per year in the United States in sport activities that often require landing, deceleration-acceleration, cutting and pivoting actions have been reported. The aim of this study was to examine the nature of any lower limb coupling differences between a drop-jump and a side-step cutting actions, assess kinematic and kinetic differences between three tasks, and evaluate the effects of two landing techniques in biomechanical risk factors while performing two unanticipated tasks. …

The Ontogeny Of Muscle Structure And Locomotory Function In The Long-Finned Squid Doryteuthis Pealeii, J. T. Thompson, I. K. Bartol, A. E. Baksi, P. S. Krueger

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Understanding the extent to which changes in muscle form and function underlie ontogenetic changes in locomotory behaviors and performance is important in understanding the evolution of musculoskeletal systems and also the ecology of different life stages. We explored ontogenetic changes in the structure, myosin heavy chain (MHC) expression and contractile properties of the circular muscles that provide power for jet locomotion in the long-finned squid Doryteuthis pealeii. The circular muscle fibers of newly hatched paralarvae had different sizes, shapes, thick filament lengths, thin: thick filament ratio, myofilament organization and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) distribution than those of adults. Viewed in …

Impact Of Resistance Training On Balance And Gait In Multiple Sclerosis, Mary Filipi, M. Patricia Leuschen, Jessie M. Huisinga, Lorene Schmaderer, Jeanna Vogel, Daryl Kucera, Nikolaos Stergiou

Journal Articles

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an incurable neurodegenerative disease whose symptoms are only partially relieved by pharmaceutical intervention. Disability due to this disease process can impede activities of daily living and decrease quality of life, both for MS patients and for their care partners and families. A nonrandomized, nonblinded prospective cohort study of 45 patients with MS was undertaken to investigate the impact of an exercise program emphasizing resistance training on balance and gait. This article presents data for the first 33 participants to complete the study protocol. The exercise program consisted of twice-weekly 50-minute sessions for 6 months. At 3 …

A Comparison Of Three Computer-Based Methods Used To Determine Emg Signal Amplitude, Doug Renshaw

Doug Renshaw

No abstract provided.

A Remote Markerless Human Gait Tracking For E-Healthcare Based On Content-Aware Wireless Multimedia Communications, Haiyan Luo, Song Ci, Dalei Wu, Nikolaos Stergiou, Ka-Chun Siu

Journal Articles

Remote human motion tracking and gait analysis over wireless networks can be used for various e-healthcare systems for fast medical prognosis and diagnosis. However, most existing gait tracking systems rely on expensive equipment and take lengthy processes to collect gait data in a dedicated biomechanical environment, limiting their accessibility to small clinics located in remote areas. In this work we propose a new accurate and cost-effective e­ healthcare system for fast human gait tracking over wireless networks, where gait data can be collected by using advanced video content analysis techniques with low-cost cameras in a general clinic environment. Furthermore, based …

An Integrated Modeling Method For Bone Strain Analysis, Daniel Leib, Henry Wang, Eric Dugan

Daniel Leib

No abstract provided.