Kinesiology Commons^™

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 …

Développement D’Une Méthodologie Pour Évaluer La Performance Des Gants À Isoler Des Vibrations En Tenant Compte De La Dextérité Ainsi Que De La Force De Préhension, Pierre Marcotte, Subhash Rakheja, Christian Larivière, Yumeng Yao, Chantal Gauvin, Karim Hamouda, Hakim Mecheri

Rapports de recherche scientifique

L'efficacité des gants antivibrations pour réduire les vibrations transmises à la main est actuellement évaluée en laboratoire selon la méthodologie décrite dans la norme ISO 10819:2013. Cette norme évalue la transmission des vibrations à la paume de la main, mais ne tient pas compte de la transmission des vibrations aux doigts ni de l’effet du port de ces gants sur la dextérité manuelle et l’effort de préhension. Cette étude visait à développer une méthodologie afin d’améliorer l’évaluation de la transmission des vibrations par les gants antivibrations à la paume et aux doigts, tout en tenant compte de l’effet de ces …

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 …

Low-Cost Prosthetic Feet For Underserved Populations: A Comparison Of Gait Analysis And Mechanical Stiffness, Kaleigh Renninger, Brevin Banks, Dustin A. Bruening

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

• Lower limb loss is an ongoing cause of disability throughout the world.
• Despite advancements in prosthetic technologies, there are numerous underserved populations in need of effective low-cost prosthetic foot options.

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. …

Analyse Du Concept De Marge De Manœuvre En Ergonomie Du Point De Vue Du Contrôle De La Motricité Humaine, Philippe Corbeil, André Plamondon, Denys Denis

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Le concept de marge de manœuvre se définit comme la liberté dont dispose un travailleur pour élaborer différentes façons de travailler afin de répondre aux exigences de production, et ce, sans effet défavorable sur sa santé (Coutarel, Caroly, Vézina et Daniellou, 2015; St-Vincent et al., 2011). Une forte charge de travail jumelée à une faible latitude décisionnelle restreint l’élaboration des gestes et pourrait pénaliser ainsi la santé des opérateurs. Les connaissances actuelles des façons de faire des manutentionnaires, qu’ils soient experts ou non, ne nous permettent pas d’apprécier dans sa totalité l’ampleur de cette liberté lorsqu’un individu doit répéter …

Submaximal Electromyography-Driven Musculoskeletal Modeling Of The Human Trunk During Static Tasks: Equilibrium And Stability Analyses, Farshid Ghezelbash, Aboulfazl Shirazi-Adl, Denis Gagnon, Ali Shahvarpour, Navid Arjmand, Amir Hossein Eskandari, Christian Larivière

Études primaires

Conventional electromyography-driven (EMG) musculoskeletal models are calibrated during maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) tasks, but individuals with low back pain cannot perform unbiased MVCs. To address this issue, EMG-driven models can be calibrated in submaximal tasks. However, the effects of maximal (when data points include the maximum contraction) and submaximal calibration techniques on model outputs (e.g., muscle forces, spinal loads) remain yet unknown. We calibrated a subject-specific EMG-driven model, using maximal/submaximal isometric contractions, and simulated different independent tasks. Both approaches satisfactorily predicted external moments (Pearson’s correlation ∼ 0.75; relative error = 44%), and removing calibration tasks under axial torques markedly improved …

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 …

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, …

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 …

Characterizing Locomotor Disturbance Perception In Young Adults, Daniel James Liss

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

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 …

Defining The Role Of Elastic Fibers In Tendon Mechanics, Jeremy D. Eekhoff

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Tendons serve as a linking component of the musculoskeletal system by transferring forces between muscle and bone. As such, the structural proteins of the tendon extracellular matrix are of vital importance for the tissue to function properly and maintain its mechanical integrity. Collagen is the principal constituent of tendon and makes up its aligned hierarchical organization. Other structural proteins, such as elastin, are in comparison understudied and not well understood in relation to tendon function. Elastin, the main component of elastic fibers, has unique mechanical properties including high extensibility, fatigue resistance, and elasticity; these properties are important for elastin-rich tissues …

État Des Récentes Avancées En Matière De Développement De Sièges À Suspension, Subhash Rakheja, Pierre Marcotte, Karim Hamouda, Krishna Dewangan, Darshan Dorugade

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Dans divers secteurs d’activité du Québec, les conducteurs de véhicules sont exposés à des niveaux notables de vibrations globales du corps (VGC) et à des chocs intermittents, associés dans les deux cas à un risque accru de douleurs lombaires et de dégénérescence de la colonne vertébrale. Les sièges à suspension sont largement utilisés pour limiter l'exposition des conducteurs aux VGC. L’efficacité d'un siège à suspension à réduire les vibrations est fortement dépendante de la nature des vibrations du véhicule (amplitude, direction et fréquence). Un siège à suspension ne peut donc offrir une efficacité optimale que lorsque la suspension est mise …

State-Of-The-Art In Recent Developments Concerning Suspension Seats, Subhash Rakheja, Pierre Marcotte, Karim Hamouda, Krishna Dewangan, Darshan Dorugade

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Dans divers secteurs d’activité du Québec, les conducteurs de véhicules sont exposés à des niveaux notables de vibrations globales du corps (VGC) et à des chocs intermittents, associés dans les deux cas à un risque accru de douleurs lombaires et de dégénérescence de la colonne vertébrale. Les sièges à suspension sont largement utilisés pour limiter l'exposition des conducteurs aux VGC. L’efficacité d'un siège à suspension à réduire les vibrations est fortement dépendante de la nature des vibrations du véhicule (amplitude, direction et fréquence). Un siège à suspension ne peut donc offrir une efficacité optimale que lorsque la suspension est mise …

Use Of Pressure-Measuring Insoles To Characterize Gait Parameters In Simulated Reduced-Gravity Conditions, Christian Ison, Connor Neilsen, Jessica Deberardinis, Mohamed B. Trabia, Janet S. Dufek

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Prior researchers have observed the effect of simulated reduced-gravity exercise. However, the extent to which lower-body positive-pressure treadmill (LBPPT) walking alters kinematic gait characteristics is not well understood. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of LBPPT walking on selected gait parameters in simulated reduced-gravity conditions. Twenty-nine college-aged volunteers participated in this cross-sectional study. Participants wore pressure-measuring insoles (Medilogic GmBH, Schönefeld, Germany) and completed three 3.5-min walking trials on the LBPPT (AlterG, Inc., Fremont, CA, USA) at 100% (normal gravity) as well as reduced-gravity conditions of 40% and 20% body weight (BW). The resulting insole data were …

A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis On The Efficacy Of Stem Cell Therapy On Bone Brittleness In Mouse Models Of Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Lauren Battle, Shoshana Yakar, Alessandra Carriero

Publications and Research

There is no cure for osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), and current treatments can only partially correct the bone phenotype. Stem cell therapy holds potential to improve bone quality and quantity in OI. Here, we conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies to investigate the efficacy of stem cell therapy to rescue bone brittleness in mouse models of OI. Identified studies included bone marrow, mesenchymal stem cells, and human fetal stem cells. Effect size of fracture incidence, maximum load, stiffness, cortical thickness, bone volume fraction, and raw engraftment rates were pooled in a random-effects meta-analysis. Cell type, cell number, injection …

Synthetic Gene Circuits For Self-Regulating And Temporal Delivery Of Anti-Inflammatory Biologic Drugs In Engineered Tissues, Lara Pferdehirt

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The recent advances in the fields of synthetic biology and genome engineering open up new possibilities for creating cell-based therapies. We combined these tools to target repair of articular cartilage, a tissue that lacks a natural ability to regenerate, in the presence of arthritic diseases. To this end, we developed cell-based therapies that harness disease pathways and the unique properties of articular cartilage for prescribed, localized, and controlled delivery of biologics, creating the next generation of cell therapies and new classes of synthetic circuits. We created tissue engineered cartilage from murine induced pluripotent stem cells that had the ability to …

Subject-Specific Musculoskeletal Modeling Of Hip Dysplasia Biomechanics, Ke Song

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is characterized by abnormal bony anatomy, causes pain and functional limitations, and is a prominent risk factor for premature hip osteoarthritis. Although the pathology of DDH is believed to be mechanically-induced, little is known about how DDH anatomy alters hip biomechanics during activities of daily living, partly due to the difficulties with measuring hip muscle and joint forces. Musculoskeletal models (MSMs) are useful for dynamic simulations of joint mechanics, but the reliability of MSMs for DDH research is limited by an accurate model representation of the unique hip anatomy. To address such challenges, this …

Patient-Specific Finite Element Analysis For Mandibular Fracture Fixation, Ethan Snyder

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis proposes an approach for Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of mandibular fracture fixation. Using a Computerized Tomography (CT) scan of mandible obtained from a specific person, the material characteristics, density and modulus of elasticity, were determined from a set of discrete points within the mandible that are 1mm spaced based on the Hounsfield Units of these points. The mandible geometry was sectioned to simulate a fracture. Muscle and mastication forces were added to replicate post-surgery loading. Using a standard linear miniplate, this material model was compared with two commonly used mandibular cortical shell bone models: isotropic and orthotropic. A …

Musculoskeletal Modeling Of The Pelvis And Lumbar Spine During Running, Ruth Higgins, Maryam Moeini, Hunter Bennett, Stacie Ringleb

College of Engineering & Technology (Batten) Posters

Musculoskeletal modeling provides an alternative to in-vivo characteristics that are difficult to directly measure for movements such as running, especially for trunk muscles and joints. The full-body-lumbar-spine (FBLS) model by Raabe and Chaudhari, 2016 is an OpenSim model created for simulations of jogging. The lifting full-body (LFB) model by Beaucage-Gauvreau et al., 2018 is an adaptation of the FBLS created for estimating spinal loads during lifting. PURPOSE: Determine validity of the FBLS and LFB models in simulating pelvis and lumbar spine kinematics during running. METHODS: Inverse Kinematics were executed using experimental data for the FBLS and LFB models. To …

Predictions Of Knee Joint Contact Forces Using Only Kinematic Inputs With A Recurrent Neural Network, Kaileigh Elisabeth Estler

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Knee joint contact (bone on bone) forces are commonly estimated using surrogate measures such as external knee adduction moments (with limited success) or musculoskeletal modeling (more successful). Despite its capabilities, modeling is not optimal for clinicians or persons with limited experience and knowledge. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to design a novel prediction method for knee joint contact forces that is equal or more accurate than modeling, yet simplistic in terms of required inputs. METHODS: This study included all six subjects’ (71.3±6.5kg, 1.7±0.1m) data from the opensource “Grand Challenge” datasets (simtk.org) and two subjects from the "CAMS" …

An Automated Framework For Connected Speech Evaluation Of Neurodegenerative Disease: A Case Study In Parkinson's Disease, Sai Bharadwaj Appakaya

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neurodegenerative diseases affect millions of people around the world. The progressive degeneration worsens the symptoms, heavily impacting the quality of life of the patients as well as the caregivers. Speech production is one of the physiological processes affected by neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Speech is the most basic form of communication, and the effect of neurodegeneration degrades speech production, thereby reducing social interaction and mental well-being. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disease affecting speech production in 90% of the diagnosed individuals. Speech analysis methods for PD in clinical methods …

Foot Contact Dynamics And Fall Risk Among Children Diagnosed With Idiopathic Toe Walking, Rahul Soangra, Michael Shiraishi, Richard Beuttler, Michelle Gwerder, Lou Anne Boyd, Venkatesan Muthukumar, Mohamed Trabia, Afshin Aminian, Marybeth Grant-Beuttler

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

Children that are diagnosed with Idiopathic Toe walking (cITW) are characterized by persistent toe-to-toe contacts. The objective of this study was to explore whether typical foot contact dynamics during walking predisposes cITW to a higher risk of falling. Twenty cITW and age-matched controls performed typical and toe walking trials. The gait parameters related to foot contact dynamics, vertical force impulses during stance, slip, and trip risk were compared for both groups. We found that cITW manifest less stable gait and produced significantly higher force impulses during push-off. Additionally, we found that cITW had a higher slip-initiation risk that was associated …

Développement D’Un Outil Personnalisé D’Aide À La Décision En Vue De Minimiser Les Risques En Manutention Impliquant Des Postures Symétriques Et Asymétriques, Aboulfazl Shirazi-Adl, Navid Arjmand, André Plamondon

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Les charges excessives imposées sur la colonne vertébrale lombaire constituent un facteur de risques important pour les maux de dos. La modélisation biomécanique de la colonne vertébrale est la seule approche non invasive permettant d’estimer ces charges, mais la complexité de ces modèles limite leur utilisation par des ergonomes. Pour aider ces derniers à identifier des situations à risque de blessures au dos afin de limiter le chargement aux structures lombaires, il existe des outils d’aide à la décision comme l’équation de levage du NIOSH (Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation, Waters et al., 1993) ainsi que les tables …