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Hindfoot Kinematics of Healthy Subjects Using Lateral Wedge Insoles in a Biplane Fluoroscopy System
Lateral wedge insoles (LWIs) are a type of orthosis used to reduce the external knee adduction moment (EKAM), which is associated with the development and progression of tibiofemoral osteoarthritis. However, their effect on kinematics at the hindfoot is unclear. Biplane fluoroscopy was utilized to measure the kinematics of ...
Transverse-Plane Ankle Rotation for Lower-Limb Amputees Using Two Novel Prostheses
Lower-limb amputees often suffer from pain and discomfort caused by prosthesis use. Problems include musculoskeletal issues caused by compensatory gait patterns and skin injuries caused by shear stress at the interface between the residual limb and the socket. Torsion adapters have been shown to relieve these skin problems, ...
Magnetic Devices and Techniques for the Study of Viscoelasticity of Biomaterials and Myocardial Forces
Magnetic microdevices comprise a set of popular tools to study a number of properties of biological systems. In particular, magnetic microdevices are useful as methods to apply force to systems, and to measure the force being produced. One of the great benefits of using magnetic devices is the ability to produce force from a ...
Fluid-Structure Interaction and Gyroscopic Sensing in Flapping, Flexing Bio-Inspired Wings
Flying animals use the flexibility of their wings to perform impressive aerodynamic maneuvers that are not yet achievable using engineered systems. Since insects do not possess muscles within their wings, these animals must depend on the passive interactions between wing flexibility, wing actuation, and fluid-structure ...
Assessing the Role of GPIb-IX-V Complex in Transmitting Platelet Cytoskeletal Forces
Platelets rapidly seal wounds in blood vessels, preventing blood loss. They bind to ex-posed vascular matrix at the wound site through a highly specialized surface receptor, the glycoprotein (GP) Ib-IX-V complex, which recognizes von Willebrand factor (VWF) in the matrix. This bond is unique in that it becomes more stable as ...
Computation and Measurement of Force and Tissue Damage for the Grasper-tissue Interface in Robot-assisted Minimal Invasive Surgery
Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) has many benefits for patients. However, loss of haptic feedback in the technique is a major limitation to surgeons since extensive applied force due to the lack of haptic feedback may cause unrecognized tissue damage. Also a surgical simulator without touch sensation is less ...
A Prosthetic Ankle Design to Improve Stair Ambulation for Transfemoral Amputees
The aim of this thesis is to design a prosthetic ankle to improve stair ambulation for transfemoral (above knee) amputees. Even though many prosthetic knees offer stair descent capabilities, no prosthetic ankle provides a natural stair descent gait for transfemoral amputees. Most ankles have a limited range of motion resulting ...
A Coronally-Clutching Ankle to Improve Amputee Balance on Coronally-Uneven and Unpredictable Terrain
To improve amputee balance on coronally-uneven and unpredictable terrain, a coronally-clutching ankle (CCA) prosthesis was developed and tested using amputee participants. In its adapting mode, the CCA device enabled free coronal rotation of the prosthetic foot of up to ±15° from horizontal, and approximately 100 ms after ...
Transverse Plane Rotational Misalignment of Ankle Arthrodesis and Arthroplasty in Cadaveric Gait Simulation
End-stage arthritis of the ankle is a debilitating disease that is commonly treated surgically with arthrodesis and arthroplasty of the ankle joint. Misalignment of the ankle joint occurs in both of these surgeries, and for both procedures, misalignment can negatively impact patient outcomes. The goal of this thesis was to ...
Laboratory and Field Testing of Alpine and Alpine Touring Ski Equipment Retention and Release Characteristics
Releasable alpine ski bindings were developed and standardized in the 1970s to mitigate the risk of twisting and binding fractures of the tibia-fibula, but they have not been effective at mitigating knee injuries. They have two primary functions: 1) Retention – keep the ski attached to the skiers boot if the loads on the tibia ...