Biomechanics Commons^™

Effect Of Handrail Use During Stair Climbing In Oa Patients: A Pilot Study, Jenna Ackerman

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Introduction: For the patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, stairs are commonly a difficult task and may be the first thing affect by osteoarthritis.1 This population often employs altered strategies when they approach, ascend, and descend the stairs compared to a healthy population. Within 12 years, 80% of patients develop knee osteoarthritis in the contralateral limb.2 Handrails play an important role by assisting with balance, control, and confidence, but their use needs to be assessed even further to fully understand how handrails impact the contralateral limb in osteoarthritic patients and how they may be integrated optimally into gait rehabilitation.

Purpose: …

3d Prosthetics Effects On Standing Posture In Unilateral Upper Limb Deficient Children, Keaton Young

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

3D Prosthetics Effects on Standing Posture in Unilateral Upper Limb Deficient Children

Keaton Young

Department of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Introduction

Upper Limb Reduction Deficiency (ULD) is a congenital disability that affects the upper limb, which the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 1,500 babies are born with ULD in the United States yearly ^1,2. Prior research has focused on functional treatment of the upper limbs but has lacked observance of the effects that prosthetics and limb loss incur to the trunk. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the acute effects …

Isolating Aspects Of Gait Through The Use Of Pacing Signals: A Pilot Study, Joel Sommerfeld

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

A number of recent studies have shown that the temporal structure of pacing signals greatly influences the gait dynamics observed when coordinating with those signals. Typically, those studies have focused on autocorrelation structure (ACF). The current study builds on that work by addressing how the probability distribution (PDF) of pacing signals contributes to the process of synchronization. Results show that people use both of those sources of information when coordinating the timing of the lower limbs with an external pacing signal.

The Time Of Slip Onset During Stance Influences The Characteristics Of The Unconstrained Perturbation, Corbin Rasmussen, Nathaniel Hunt

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Falls pose a significant health hazard, resulting in devastating injuries like broken wrists, fractured hips, and traumatic brain injuries that exceed $50 billion in U.S. medical costs. To address these risks, biomechanists have subjected individuals to simulated slips in order to study the factors that lead to falls. These studies have focused on slips that happen immediately after heel-strike and are unnaturally restricted by the methods used to cause the slip. Therefore, the effects of unconstrained slips that occur throughout stance phase are unknown. To address this knowledge gap, we examined the relationship between the timing of slip onset and …

Subthreshold Vibration Influences The Posture And Gait Of Transtibial Amputees, Charles Sloan

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Unilateral transtibial amputees lose the afferent pathways of the limb when amputation occurs. The addition of vibration has shown to increase sensation on the applied limb. This study looks into how the addition of subthreshold vibration affects amputee gait and posture. Vibration applied to the residual limb was shown to have worked in posture, but not in gait.

Influence Of Hip Abductor Fatigue On Acl Loading During Single-Leg Landing, Namwoong Kim

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

A musculoskeletal simulation study is necessary to identify the cause-effect relationship between hip abductor weakness and ACL loading during athletic events such as landing and jumping. The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of weakness of hip abductors on lower extremity kinematics and ACL loading during single-leg landings. We hypothesized that hip abductor weakness would alter lower extremity joint kinematics. We also hypothesized that hip abductor weakness would increase ACL loading during single-leg landings. This study was a combination of a human experiment and a musculoskeletal modeling simulation. Ten healthy participants performed single-leg landing from a height …

An Altered Spatiotemporal Gait Adjustment During A Virtual Obstacle Crossing Task In Patients With Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy, Chun-Kai Huang, Vijay Shivaswamy, Pariwat Thaisetthawatkul, Lynn Mack, Nicholas Stergiou, Ka-Chun Siu

Journal Articles

This study investigates spatiotemporal gait adjustments that occur while stepping over virtual obstacles during treadmill walking in people with/without diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Eleven adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus, ten DPN, and 11 age-matched healthy adults (HTY) participated in this study. They stepped over forthcoming virtual obstacles during treadmill walking. Outcomes such as success rate, spatiotemporal gait characteristics during obstacle crossing, and correlations between these variables were evaluated. The results partially supported our hypotheses that when comparing with HTY and DM, people with DPN adopted a crossing strategy which decreased obstacle crossing success rate and maximal toe elevation, …

Uneven Terrain Exacerbates The Deficits Of A Passive Prosthesis In The Regulation Of Whole Body Angular Momentum In Individuals With A Unilateral Transtibial Amputation, Jenny A. Kent, Kota Z. Takahashi, Nicholas Stergiou

Journal Articles

Background

Uneven ground is a frequently encountered, yet little-studied challenge for individuals with amputation. The absence of control at the prosthetic ankle to facilitate correction for surface inconsistencies, and diminished sensory input from the extremity, add unpredictability to an already complex control problem, and leave limited means to produce appropriate corrective responses in a timely manner. Whole body angular momentum, L, and its variability across several strides may provide insight into the extent to which an individual can regulate their movement in such a context. The aim of this study was to explore L in individuals with a transtibial amputation, …

Gait Mechanics Differences Between Healthy Controls And Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease After Adjusting For Gait Velocity, Stride Length, And Step Width, John D. Mccamley, Eric Cutler, Kendra K. Schmid, Shane R. Wurdeman, Jason Johanning, Iraklis Pipinos, Sara A. Myers

Journal Articles

Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) experience significant leg dysfunction. The effects of PAD on gait include shortened steps, slower walking velocity, and altered gait kinematics and kinetics, which may confound joint torques and power measurements. Spatiotemporal parameters and joint torques and powers were calculated and compared between 20 patients with PAD and 20 healthy controls using independent t tests. Separate analysis of covariance models were used to evaluate group differences after independently adjusting for gait velocity, stride length, and step width. Compared with healthy controls, patients with PAD exhibited reduced peak extensor and flexor torques at the knee and …

Correction: New Approaches For Assessing Squid Fin Motions: Coupling Proper Orthogonal Decomposition With Volumetric Particle Tracking Velocimetry (Doi:10.1242/Jeb.176750), Ian K. Bartol, Paul S. Krueger, Carly A. York, Joseph T. Thompson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Squid, which swim using a coupled fin/jet system powered by muscular hydrostats, pose unique challenges for the study of locomotion. The high flexibility of the fins and complex flow fields generated by distinct propulsion systems require innovative techniques for locomotive assessment. For this study, we used proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to decouple components of the fin motions and defocusing digital particle tracking velocimetry (DDPTV) to quantify the resultant 3D flow fields. Kinematic footage and DDPTV data were collected from brief squid, Lolliguncula brevis [3.1–6.5 cm dorsal mantle length (DML)], swimming freely in a water tunnel at speeds of 0.39–7.20 DML …

Selection Procedures For The Largest Lyapunov Exponent In Gait Biomechanics, Peter C. Raffalt, Jenny A. Kent, Shane R. Wurdeman, Nicholas Stergiou

Journal Articles

The present study was aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the Wolf et al. (LyE_W) and Rosenstein et al. largest Lyapunov Exponent (LyE_R) algorithms to differentiate data sets with distinctly different temporal structures. The three-dimensional displacement of the sacrum was recorded from healthy subjects during walking and running at two speeds; one low speed close to the preferred walking speed and one high speed close to the preferred running speed. LyE_R and LyE_W were calculated using four different time series normalization procedures. The performance of the algorithms were evaluated based on their ability to return relative low values for slow …

Stride-Time Variability Is Related To Sensorimotor Cortical Activation During Forward And Backward Walking, Boman Groff, Prokopios Antonellis, Kendra K. Schmid, Brian Knarr, Nicholas Stergiou

Journal Articles

Previous research has used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to show that motor areas of the cortex are activated more while walking backward compared to walking forward. It is also known that head movement creates motion artifacts in fNIRS data. The aim of this study was to investigate cortical activation during forward and backward walking, while also measuring head movement. We hypothesized that greater activation in motor areas while walking backward would be concurrent with increased head movement. Participants performed forward and backward walking on a treadmill. Participants wore motion capture markers on their head to quantify head movement and pressure …

Multi-Scale Coordination Of Distinctive Movement Patterns During Embodied Interaction Between Adults With High-Functioning Autism And Neurotypicals, Leonardo Zapata-Fonseca, Dobromir Dotov, Ruben Fossion, Tom Froese, Leonhard Schilbach, Kai Vogeley, Bert Timmermans

Journal Articles

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be understood as a social interaction disorder. This requires researchers to take a “second-person” stance and to use experimental setups based on bidirectional interactions. The present work offers a quantitative description of movement patterns exhibited during computer-mediated real-time sensorimotor interaction in 10 dyads of adult participants, each consisting of one control individual (CTRL) and one individual with high-functioning autism (HFA). We applied time-series analyses to their movements and found two main results. First, multi-scale coordination between participants was present. Second, despite this dyadic alignment and our previous finding that individuals with HFA can be equally …

Walking Speed And Spatiotemporal Step Mean Measures Are Reliable During Feedback-Controlled Treadmill Walking; However, Spatiotemporal Step Variability Is Not Reliable, Casey Wiens, William Denton, Molly Schieber, Vivien Marmelat, Sara A. Myers, Jennifer M. Yentes

Journal Articles

The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of a feedback-controlled treadmill (FeedbackTM) to a traditional fixed-speed treadmill (FixedTM) on spatiotemporal gait means, variability, and dynamics. The study also examined inter-session reliability when using the FeedbackTM. Ten young adults walked on the FeedbackTM for a 5-minute familiarization followed by a 16-minute experimental trial. They returned within one week and completed a 5-minute familiarization followed by a 16-minute experimental trial each for FeedbackTM and FixedTM conditions. Mean walking speed and step time, length, width, and speed means and coefficient of variation were calculated from all experimental conditions. Step time, …

The Relationship Between Angular Momentum Of The Lower Trunk And Shoulder Joint Forces In Overarm Throwing Athletes, Kevin Moore

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Overarm throwing athletes utilize the kinetic chain, which allows forces generated by the lower body to be transmitted to the throwing arm in a proximal-to-distal sequence. Efficient force transmission from the lower body to the throwing arm can improve performance and reduce risk for injury. The purpose of this thesis was to explore the relationship between the lower trunk (pelvis) maximum angular momentum and the joint resultant forces at the shoulder during the overarm throwing motion of baseball athletes. I hypothesized that there would be a negative correlation between the maximum angular momentum about the superior-inferior axis of the lower …

Optimization Of Underbody Blast Energy-Attenuating Seat Mechanisms Using Modified Madymo Hybrid Iii And Human Body Models, Kelly Erin Bryan Bosch

Wayne State University Dissertations

Energy attenuating (EA) blast seats, although not new to the market, have not been fully characterized with respect to energy attenuation capability and the resulting effects on occupant protection. EA seats utilize stroking mechanisms to absorb energy and reduce the vertical forces imparted on the occupant’s pelvis and lower spine complex. Although a variety of EA seats are available on the market, the fundamental question behind how to optimize the force and deflection rates of the EA mechanisms to effectively reduce occupant injury has not yet been answered. Using modeling and simulation techniques, this research developed a tool to determine …

The First Step Toward The Future Of Wearables In Rehabilitation, Morgan L. Andrews

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

Tibial stress fractures are a major problem for runners and military athletes due to the high-intensity nature of their training. This injury is commonly treated through subjective measures including rest and management of symptoms that are evaluated by a therapist or trainer. With the advancement of technology such as inertial measurement units with accelerometers, clinicians may have the potential to provide an objective way to rehabilitate tibial stress fractures. Wearable technology is becoming more popular to be used in training but has not made it to rehabilitation yet. This study examines the validity of derived measures from the IMeasureU IMU …

Differences In Running Mechanics And Tibial Plateau Dimensions Between Overweight/Obese And Healthy Weight Children, Claire Sylvestre

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: Overweight and obese (OW/OB) children display increased knee joint loading during running, which may lead to excessive frontal plane motion and moments at the knee joints. The relationship between tibial plateau dimensions and knee vertical loading may explain the loading related injuries OW/OB children experience.
PURPOSE: Compare knee mechanics during running and tibial plateau dimensions between healthy weight (HW) and OW/OB children.
METHODS: Ten HW children and ten OW/OB children aged 9-12 participated in the study. Kinematic and kinetic data were captured as participants ran across a force platform at 3.5m/s. Tibial plateau area and density were collected by …

Walking Biomechanics And Energetics Of Individuals With A Visual Impairment: A Preliminary Report, Hunter J. Bennett, Kevin A. Valenzuela, Kristina Fleenor, Steven Morrison, Justin A. Haegele

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

Purpose.

Although walking gait in sighted populations is well researched, few studies have investigated persons with visual impairments (VIs). Given the lack of physical activity in people with VIs, it is possible that reduced efficiency in walking could adversely affect activity. The purposes of this preliminary study were to (1) examine the biomechanics and energetics utilized during independent and guided walking in subjects with VIs, and (2) compare gait biomechanics between people with VIs and sighted controls.

Methods.

Three-dimensional motion capture and force platforms were used during independent and guided walking at self-selected speeds. Joint angles, moments, external work, and …

The Effect Of Hatha Yoga On Muscular Strength In Healthy, Young Adults, Nathaniel Roley

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Ankle Stiffness On Mechanics And Energetics Of Walking With Added Loads: A Prosthetic Emulator Study, Erica Hedrick, Philippe Malcolm, Jason M. Wilken, Kota Z. Takahashi

Journal Articles

Background: The human ankle joint has an influential role in the regulation of the mechanics and energetics of gait. The human ankle can modulate its joint ‘quasi-stiffness’ (ratio of plantarflexion moment to dorsiflexion displacement) in response to various locomotor tasks (e.g., load carriage). However, the direct effect of ankle stiffness on metabolic energy cost during various tasks is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to determine how net metabolic energy cost was affected by ankle stiffness while walking under different force demands (i.e., with and without additional load).
Methods: Individuals simulated an amputation by using …

Analysis Of Push-Up And Pull-Up Variants To Develop An Upper Extremity Model, Ashley Carlene Wimsett

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

Musculoskeletal Injuries are the most common cause of severe long-term pain and physical disability. Push-Ups and Pull-Ups are effective dynamic exercises that mimic high level function activities, such as those used in the military. The model developed allows for researchers to analyze the forces and moments associated with the shoulder, elbow and wrist, to further assess function in military personnel, athletes and the active population. The model also follows the guidelines set forth by the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB).

Revisiting The Effect Of Manipulating Lumbar Stability With Load Magnitudes And Positions: The Effect Of Sex On Trunk Muscle Activation, Christian Larivière, Ali Shahvarpour, Christina Gravel, Myriam Gauvin, Anne-Marie Jean, Ariane Viau, Hakim Mecheri

Études primaires

Background

Lumbar spine stability is regularly studied by positioning different loads at different heights and distance and measuring trunk muscle activation changes. Some of these studies have reported sex differences, but this needs to be revisited while controlling for confounding factors.

Method

20 males and 20 females sustained three static standing postures, with various loads (0, 5 and 10% of body weight), to evaluate the effect of height and distance. Activation of 12 trunk muscles was recorded with surface electromyography (EMG).

Results

Females activated their external obliques a little more than males, with increases ranging between 1.5 and 2.3% of …

University Of Nebraska At Omaha Department Of Biomechanics Annual Report Spring 2019, Department Of Biomechanics, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Biomechanics Annual Report

This report contains:

A letter from the Director: Dr. Nick Stergiou

Articles about Updates: Center for Research in Human Movement Variability

Articles about the Updates: Department of Biomechanics

Articles on Exciting News

Article about Beyond the Boarders

Articles on Outreach

and Highlights

Changes On Movement Control Of Dart Throwing Under Distance And Target Weight Constraints, Carlos E. Campos, Guilherme M. Lage, Andre G.P. Andrade, Crislaine R. Couto, Suziane P. Santos, Vitor L.S. Profeta, Herbert Ugrinowitsch

Athletic Performance Research

The aim of the study was to verify the effects of dart weight and target distance on kinematic variables of the movement control of the underarm dart throwing task. Four women and one man performed the task of throwing a dart at two horizontal circular targets located at 2m (Nt) and 3m (Ft) away, with two different weights, 22g (Ld) and 44g (Hd). On the first phase of the experiment, the human volunteers performed 200 trials per day during four sessions. On the fifth day, it had 40 more trials in a pseudo random order that were recorded and analysed. …

A Singer’S Stress: Yoga And Meditation Techniques In The Collegiate Voice Studio, Zackery David Morris

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Often neglected in voice study is the understanding that a singer’s instrument lives in his/her body and therefore cannot be packed away like other musical objects. Yoga and mindfulness compliment the belief of a whole body instrument. Data gathered on college campuses report that stress and anxiety are on the rise, thus reinforcing the need for MBSR and yoga as beneficial and proven tools for stress relief. The current state of research in the realm of mental health in colleges merits the study of a cohesive layout of these exercises and their expected outcomes in singing as well as stress …

The Impact Of Flexibility On Balance In Rifle Athletes, Ileia Nagelkirk

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Research has shown that there may be a connection between flexibility and balance when evaluating fall risk in older adults and flexibility’s effect on a balance test (Emilio, Hita-Contreras, Jiménez-Lara, Latorre-Román, & Martínez-Amat, 2014); Overmoyer & Reiser, (2015). Balance is an important component of many sport movements, and has been shown to be particularly important in shooting performance in both novice and Olympic rifle athletes (Mononen, Konttinen, Viitasalo, Era, 2007; Ball, Best, Wrigley, 2003). The purpose of this study was to find if there was a relationship between a rifle athlete’s flexibility and their balance ability, to determine if flexibility …

Effects Of Different Dual Tasking Modalities On The Standing Balance Performance Of College Students, John Patrick Manning

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Center of pressure (CoP) and related-metrics are widely accepted indicators of balance performance. Traditional indices of balance performance (e.g. sway area) have been seen as incapable of fully characterizing CoP dynamics, therefore newer measures have been used in contemporary literature to characterize regularity, complexity, and dimensionality of CoP signals. A popular method of increasing standing task difficulty is through the addition of a cognitive task, referred to as dual-task. PURPOSE: The present study sought to investigate the potential of a hierarchical attentional difficulty within the dual-task paradigm and to propose way to order those difficulties by examining differences in static …

Ultrasound Measures Of The Abdominal Wall In Patients With Low Back Pain Before And After An 8-Week Lumbar Stabilization Exercise Program, And Their Association With Clinical Outcomes, Christian Larivière, Sharon M. Henry, Dany H. Gagnon, Richard Preuss, Jean-Pierre Dumas

Études primaires

Background

Lumbar stabilization exercise programs (LSEPs) act positively on clinical outcome measures in patients with low back pain (LBP), but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Among the various neuromuscular mechanisms, a good candidate is better activation of the abdominal wall, as measured with rehabilitative ultrasound imaging (RUSI).

Objectives

To determine whether RUSI measures are (1) sensitive to LBP status and treatment (LSEP) and (2) correlate with clinical outcomes following the LSEP.

Design

An exploratory one-arm clinical trial with healthy participants as a control group.

Setting

LSEP was delivered in a clinical setting; outcomes were measured in a laboratory …

Ankle-Knee Initial Contact Angle And Latency Period To Maximum Angle Are Affected By Prolonged Run, Sydni Wilhoite Ms

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: The angle experienced at initial contact and midstance have been suggested to influence the risk of injury. Previous literature has not assessed these angles under the influence of novel footwear for a non-exhaustive prolonged run or the relationship between the angles. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the change of lower extremity kinematic parameters and the relationship between kinematic parameters at initial contact and midstance with prolonged running under the influence of different types of footwear. METHODS: The participants included 12 experienced, recreational runners (6 male; 6 female; 24.8 ± 8.4 years; 70.5 ± 9.3 kg; …