Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Comparison Of Clinical And Biomechanical Characteristics Between Individuals With Lower Limb Amputation With And Without Lower Back Pain: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Szu-Ping Lee, Shawn Farrokhi, Jenny A. Kent, Jason Ciccotelli, Lung-Chang Chien, Jo Armour Smith

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Lower back pain is a debilitating condition common to individuals with lower limb amputation. It is unclear what risk factors contribute to the development of back pain. This study systematically reviewed and analyzed the available evidence regarding the clinical and biomechanical differences between individuals with amputation, with and without lower back pain.

Methods

A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and CINAHL databases in November 2020 and repeated in June 2021 and June 2022. Studies were included if they reported comparisons of demographic, anthropometric, biomechanical, and other clinical variables between participants with and without LBP. …

Utilizing Teslasuit To Analyze Changes In Joint Angles And Galvanic Skin Responses During Slips (A Stress-Inducing Task), Olivia Johnson, Caitlin Ha, Audrey Arenal

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

When experiencing dangerous situations, humans have two different responses: fight or flight. During these moments, the sympathetic nervous system takes over and causes the body to work overtime to give the person the best chance at survival. Although the average person doesn’t face a life-or-death experience every day, slips are fairly common and can trigger this fight-or-flight response. Exploring what happens during a slip and quantifying a body’s response can be difficult. Still, with the help of motion capture suits and biometric sensors, there is a unique opportunity to learn more about the kinematics and physiological responses of the human …

Reliability Of Accelerometer-Based Reaction Time Tests, Jacob Hepp, Warner Rhodes, Jordan Walton, Rahul Soangra, Brent Harper

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Concussions are traumatic brain injuries that affect the function of the brain. One of the primary symptoms of a concussion is a lack of reaction time. The people that are most susceptible to concussions are athletes; Laker’s (2011) study found that 135,000 patients that suffer concussions from playing sports are expected to be hospitalized each year, with football making up 75% of concussions at high school and college levels. Honda et al. (2018) suggested reaction time as an important biomarker of concussion. Laboratory camera-based motion capture data, while reliable, is not a realistic tool to use outside of a laboratory …

Identifying Voice-Based Digital Biomarkers Of Parkinson's Disease, Rachelle Beshay, Madison Gill, Michael Shiraishi, Rahul Soangra

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Introduction: Parkinson's disease is a disorder in the central nervous system that causes tremors, abnormal gait and balance, and muscle rigidity due to loss of function in parts of the brain. Traditionally, Parkinson's is identified by the physical symptoms seen in a patient's gait and motor skills, but irregular speech patterns (hypokinetic dysarthria) is one of the first symptoms to be derived from the disease. Objective: The goal of this ongoing study is to use Mel Frequency Centrum Coefficients (MFCC), to diagnose Parkinson's in the early stages by identifying hypokinetic dysarthria. MFCC's process speech recognition patterns and produce …

Understanding Parkinson’S Disease Through Gait Initiation And Center Of Pressure, Mira Ananthanarayanan, Kiara Salceda, Michael Shiraishi, Rahul Soangra

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder that causes tremors and freezing of gait in diagnosed patients. Freezing of gait can be difficult to identify and intervene without laboratory based instruments data collection. Force plates have been proven to show viable results in identifying gait events such as heel contact and toe off. The complete gait cycle consists of a right-heel strike, right heel-to-toe shift, simultaneous right-toe off/left heel strike, left heel-to-toe shift, and a simultaneous left-toe off/right heel strike. This study will investigate center of pressure trajectories when initiating gait between healthy and Parkinson's participants. It is predicted that the …

Reliability And Validity Of Inertial Sensor Assisted Reaction Time Measurement Tools Among Healthy Young Adults, Brent Harper, Michael Shiraishi, Rahul Soangra

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

The assessment of movement reaction time (RT) as a sideline assessment is a valuable biomarker for mild TBI or concussion. However, such assessments require controlled laboratory environments, which may not be feasible for sideline testing during a game. Body-worn wearable devices are advantageous as being cost-effective, easy to don and use, wirelessly transmit data, and ensure unhindered movement performance. This study aimed to develop a Drop-stick Test System (DTS) with a wireless inertial sensor and confirm its reliability for different standing conditions (Foam versus No Foam) and task types (Single versus Dual), and postures (Standing versus sitting). Fourteen healthy young …

Bruce Protocol Test Affects Postural Stability In Healthy Young Adults, Andreas Germanos, Tessa Heiberg, Annie Jeon, Emi Heisterkamp, Hao Giang, Jessica Cota, Laura Corona, Thomas Loi, Vincent Bovino, Shayce Cordero, Sunny Kim, Michael Shiraishi, Rahul Soangra

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Maintaining balance is key in avoiding falls and injury. However, little is known on how increased cardiac activity may affect postural stability. This study investigated if increase in cardiac activity to 85% maximal heart rate (HR) when exercising with standard Bruce Protocol Test (BPT) influence postural sway. Ten young adults were tested for three postural stances, quiet bilateral standing with i) eyes open, ii) eyes closed, and iii) tandem stance, before and after performing the BPT. Resting Heart Rate (HR) and HR variability along with standard postural sway parameters like sway velocity, sway area, turn index, and power frequency in …

Classifying Toe Walking Gait Patterns Among Children Diagnosed With Idiopathic Toe Walking Using Wearable Sensors And Machine Learning Algorithms, Rahul Soangra, Yuxin Wen, Hualin Yang, Marybeth Grant-Beuttler

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Idiopathic toe walking (ITW) is a gait abnormality in which children’s toes touch at initial contact and demonstrate limited or no heel contact throughout the gait cycle. Toe walking results in poor balance, increased risk of falling, and developmental delays among children. Identifying toe walking steps during walking can facilitate targeted intervention among children diagnosed with ITW. With recent advances in wearable sensing, communication technologies, and machine learning, new avenues of managing toe walking behavior among children are feasible. In this study, we investigate the capabilities of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms in identifying initial foot contact (heel strike versus toe …

An Exploratory Analysis Of Gait Biomechanics And Muscle Activation In Pregnant Females With High And Low Scores For Low Back Or Pelvic Girdle Pain During And After Pregnancy, Jennifer J. Bagwell, Nicholas Reynolds, Jo Armour Smith, Michelle Walaszek, Hannah Runez, Kristina Lam, Julie Peterson, Dimitrios Katsavelis

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

The purpose of this study was to compare gait kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activation between pregnant females with high and low scores for low back and/or pelvic girdle pain during and after pregnancy.

Methods

Twenty participants tested during second trimester, third trimester, and again post-partum. At each session, motion capture, force plates, and surface electromyography data were captured during self-selected velocity over-ground walking. Participants completed the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QBPDS) and were assigned to high (QBPDS ≥15) or low pain groups (QBPDS

Findings

Nine participants met the high pain group criteria and 11 were low pain. During …

Clinical Application And Feasibility Of Utilizing The Pedi-Cat To Assess Activity And Participation Among Children Receiving Physical Therapy Incorporating Hippotherapy, Susan Conroy, Trish Evans, Dana Butler-Moburg, Richard Beuttler, Janelle Robinson, Matt Huebert, Erin O. Mahoney, Marybeth Grant-Beuttler

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Hippotherapy (HPOT) is a physical therapy (PT) treatment tool using equine movement to improve mobility for children with movement impairments. Although research suggests HPOT improves body structure and function, there is limited evidence regarding its impact on activity and participation outcomes in a clinical setting. The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory Computer Adaptive Test (PEDI-CAT) may be useful in HPOT settings to highlight changes in activity and participation.

Purpose

1) Evaluate the PEDI-CAT’s sensitivity to changes in activity and participation among children receiving PT using HPOT; 2) determine feasibility of administering the PEDI-CAT in a HPOT setting; and 3) …

General Variability Leads To Specific Adaptation Toward Energy Optimal Policies, Sabrina J. Abram, Katherine L. Poggensee, Natalia Sánchez, Surabhi N. Simha, James M. Finley, Steven H. Collins, J. Maxwell Donelan

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Our nervous systems can learn optimal control policies in response to changes to our bodies, tasks, and movement contexts. For example, humans can learn to adapt their control policy in walking contexts where the energy-optimal policy is shifted along variables such as step frequency or step width. However, it is unclear how the nervous system determines which ways to adapt its control policy. Here, we asked how human participants explore through variations in their control policy to identify more optimal policies in new contexts. We created new contexts using exoskeletons that apply assistive torques to each ankle at each walking …

Quantifying Intra- And Interlimb Use During Unimanual And Bimanual Tasks In Persons With Hemiparesis Post-Stroke, Susan V. Duff, Aaron Miller, Lori Quinn, Gregory Youdan Jr., Lauri Bishop, Heather Ruthrauff, Eric Wade

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Individuals with hemiparesis post-stroke often have difficulty with tasks requiring upper extremity (UE) intra- and interlimb use, yet methods to quantify both are limited.

Objective

To develop a quantitative yet sensitive method to identify distinct features of UE intra- and interlimb use during task performance.

Methods

Twenty adults post-stroke and 20 controls wore five inertial sensors (wrists, upper arms, sternum) during 12 seated UE tasks. Three sensor modalities (acceleration, angular rate of change, orientation) were examined for three metrics (peak to peak amplitude, time, and frequency). To allow for comparison between sensor data, the resultant values were combined into …

Test-Retest Reliability Of Postural Control Assessment On Biodex Biosway™, Daniel Miner, Brent A. Harper, Stephen M. Glass, Brooke Martin, Molly Polizotto, S. Montana Hearl, Ellen Turner

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Background. Recent protocols for posturographic assessment of postural control and balance have included head shake test conditions to challenge the vestibular contributions of postural control in an effort to increase the diagnostic accuracy of identifying individuals with impaired balance. However, evidence is limited regarding the test-retest reliability of such assessment protocols. Purpose. The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine the test-retest reliability of postural control assessment on the Biodex Biosway™, an accessible and field expedient tool for posturographic assessment, and to determine the test-retest reliability of the Head Shake Sensory Interaction and Balance Test (HS-SIB), an …

Do People With Low Back Pain Walk Differently? A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Jo Armour Smith, Heidi Stabbert, Jennifer J. Bagwell, Hsiang-Ling Teng, Vernie Wade, Szu-Ping Lee

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

The biomechanics of the trunk and lower limbs during walking and running gait are frequently assessed in individuals with low back pain (LBP). Despite substantial research, it is still unclear whether consistent and generalizable changes in walking or running gait occur in association with LBP. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify whether there are differences in biomechanics during walking and running gait in individuals with acute and persistent LBP compared with back-healthy controls.

Methods

A search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and PsycINFO in June 2019 and was repeated in December 2020. Studies were included …

Visualization-Driven Time-Series Extraction From Wearable Systems Can Facilitate Differentiation Of Passive Adl Characteristics Among Stroke And Healthy Older Adults, Joby John, Rahul Soangra

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Wearable technologies allow the measurement of unhindered activities of daily living (ADL) among patients who had a stroke in their natural settings. However, methods to extract meaningful information from large multi-day datasets are limited. This study investigated new visualization-driven time-series extraction methods for distinguishing activities from stroke and healthy adults. Fourteen stroke and fourteen healthy adults wore a wearable sensor at the L5/S1 position for three consecutive days and collected accelerometer data passively in the participant’s naturalistic environment. Data from visualization facilitated selecting information-rich time series, which resulted in classification accuracy of 97.3% using recurrent neural networks (RNNs). Individuals with …

Kinematic Analysis Of 360° Turning In Stroke Survivors Using Wearable Motion Sensors, Masoud Abdollahi, Pranav Madhav Kuber, Michael Shiraishi, Rahul Soangra, Ehsan Rashedi

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Background: A stroke often bequeaths surviving patients with impaired neuromusculoskeletal systems subjecting them to increased risk of injury (e.g., due to falls) even during activities of daily living. The risk of injuries to such individuals can be related to alterations in their movement. Using inertial sensors to record the digital biomarkers during turning could reveal the relevant turning alterations. Objectives: In this study, movement alterations in stroke survivors (SS) were studied and compared to healthy individuals (HI) in the entire turning task due to its requirement of synergistic application of multiple bodily systems. Methods: The motion of 28 participants (14 …