Systematic review of home physiotherapy after hip fracture surgery

OBJECTIVE: To compare the benefits of home physiotherapy, institution-based physiotherapy and no physiotherapy following hip fracture surgery. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. METHODS: Two reviewers independently extracted data from 5 included studies. Standardized mean differences were pooled for health-related quality of life and performance-based outcomes. Review Manager Version 5 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Analysis of the 5 included studies indicated that home physiotherapy was better than no physiotherapy and similar to outpatient physiotherapy in improving patient-reported health-related quality of life. Performance-based outcomes were marginally better following outpatient physiotherapy compared with home physiotherapy 3 and 6 months after surgery. The risk of bias was high for most outcomes due to methodological issues in the included studies. Discussion: There was a trend of better results with increasing intensity of physiotherapy intervention, but this did not convert into significant effect sizes. The results of this review do not build a strong consensus for recommending one mode of physiotherapy over the others. The quality of evidence was low mainly due to the high risk of bias in the included studies. CONCLUSION: In light of no strong consensus, physiotherapists should continue to follow their current workplace practice policies for determining suitable discharge settings

Radiation effects on CMOS image sensors with sub-2µm pinned photodiodes

A group of four commercial sensors with pixel pitches below 2μm has been irradiated with 60Co source at several total ionizing dose levels related to space applications. A phenomenological approach is proposed through behavior analysis of multiple sensors embedding different technological choices (pitch, isolation or buried oxide). A complete characterization including dark current, activation energy and temporal noise analysis allows to discuss about a degradation scheme

Cortical mapping of the infraspinatus muscle in healthy individuals

Background : While cortical representations of intrinsic hand muscles have been extensively studied in healthy individuals, little is known about the representation of proximal upper limb muscles. Improving our understanding of normal shoulder function is important, given that shoulder musculoskeletal disorders affect approximately 20% of the population and are suspected to involve changes in central motor representations. The purpose of the study is to describe the motor representation (motor evoked potentials (MEP) amplitude at the hotspot, map area, normalized map volume and center of gravity) of the infraspinatus muscle in healthy individuals, and to explore the potential influence of hand dominance on this representation (i.e. symmetry of the excitability and of the location of motor map between sides), as well as the effect of age and gender on motor excitability. Results : Fifteen healthy participants took part in this study. No significant asymmetry between sides was observed for motor excitability (p = 0.14), map area (p = 0.73) and normalized map volume (p = 0.34). Moreover, no side x intensity interaction was found (p = 0.54), indicating similar stimulus response properties. No difference between sides was found in the location of infraspinatus motor representation, either in the mediolateral or anteroposterior axis (p > 0.10). Neither age nor gender influenced aMT (p > 0.58) or MEP size (p > 0.61). Conclusions : As the cortical representation of infraspinatus muscles was found to be symmetric between sides, both in terms of excitability and location, comparisons between the intact and affected side could be performed in clinical studies, regardless of whether the dominant or non-dominant side is affected. The next step will be to characterize corticospinal excitability and map parameters in populations with shoulder disorders

Rad Tolerant CMOS Image Sensor Based on Hole Collection 4T Pixel Pinned Photodiode

1.4μm pixel pitch CMOS Image sensors based on hole collection pinned photodiode (HPD) have been irradiated with 60Co source. The HPD sensors exhibit much lower dark current degradation than equivalent commercial sensors using an Electron collection Pinned Photodiode (EPD). This hardness improvement is mainly attributed to carrier accumulation near the interfaces induced by the generated positive charges in dielectrics. The pre-eminence of this image sensor based on hole collection pinned photodiode architectures in ionizing environments is demonstrated

Radiation Effects on CMOS Image Sensors With Sub-2 µm Pinned Photodiodes

CMOS image sensor hardness under irradiation is a key parameter for application fields such as space or medical. In this paper, four commercial sensors featuring different technological characteristics (pitch, isolation or buried oxide) have been irradiated with 60Co source. Based on dark current and temporal noise analysis, we develop and propose a phenomenological model to explain pixel performance degradation

Stratégies motrices du membre supérieur et effet de rétroactions chez des personnes présentant un syndrome d'abutement de l'épaule

Cette thèse avait deux objectifs principaux. Le premier était de caractériser les stratégies motrices du membre supérieur de personnes présentant un syndrome d’abutement de l’épaule (SAE) lors de gestes d’atteinte. Le deuxième était d’évaluer, chez cette même population, les effets d’un entraînement moteur utilisant des rétroactions extrinsèques sur les stratégies motrices. Trente-trois personnes présentant un SAE ont participé à deux rencontres espacées de 24 heures. Leurs stratégies motrices ont été caractérisées à l’aide de l’activation de muscles de l’épaule et des patrons de cinématique du membre supérieur, lors de gestes d’atteinte de cibles situées dans deux plans d’élévation. Les stratégies motrices étaient évaluées avant, pendant, immédiatement après, et 24 heures après un entraînement supervisé, de même qu’immédiatement après un entraînement autonome. L’entraînement supervisé (première rencontre) consistait en des gestes d’atteinte exécutés sous la supervision d’un physiothérapeute qui donnait des rétroactions afin de corriger les déficits de mouvement; tandis que l’entraînement autonome (deuxième rencontre) consistait en l’exécution de gestes d’atteinte devant un miroir. Les résultats démontrent que les personnes présentant un SAE ont des déficits moteurs au niveau de la cinématique du tronc, de l’épaule et du coude, ainsi que dans l’activation musculaire du trapèze lors de gestes d’atteinte dans le plan frontal. L’entraînement supervisé avec rétroactions permet de réduire, pendant et immédiatement après l’entraînement, certains déficits observés au niveau du tronc et de l’épaule. Toutefois, la rétention est faible 24 heures après l’entraînement supervisé. Néanmoins, l’ajout d’un entraînement autonome avec rétroactions visuelles, effectué 24 heures après l’entraînement supervisé, permet de maintenir les gains obtenus à la suite de l’entraînement supervisé. En conclusion, nos travaux ont démontré qu’un entraînement supervisé permet de diminuer à court terme les déficits moteurs des personnes présentant un SAE. Si la rétention est faible 24 heures après l’entraînement supervisé, nous remarquons que l’ajout d’un entraînement autonome permet de maintenir les effets de l’entraînement. Nos résultats supportent l’utilisation de l’entraînement avec rétroactions chez cette population afin de corriger les déficits moteurs associés au SAE.The first objective of this thesis was to characterize upper limb motor strategies in persons with shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS) during reaching movements. The second was, for the same population, to evaluate the effects of supervised and unsupervised movement training with feedback on motor strategies. Thirty-three subjects with SIS participated in two visits, one day apart. Motor strategies were characterized using upper limb kinematic patterns (total joint excursion and final position) and shoulder muscular activity while reaching toward targets located at 90° of arm elevation in two different planes. Upper limb motor strategies were evaluated before, during, immediately after and 24 hours after supervised movement training and immediately after unsupervised training. Movement training, performed during the first visit, consisted of reaching movements executed under the supervision of a physiotherapist who gave feedback to restore proper shoulder control; while unsupervised training, performed during the second visit, consisted of reaching movements executed in front of a mirror. Subjects with SIS had motor deficits during reaching movements with more involvement of the trunk and shoulder in rotation, a more anterior plane of shoulder elevation at the end of reaching and alteration in the trapezius muscular activity. During and following supervised movement training with feedback, total excursion of the trunk and final position of the trunk and shoulder were improved during and immediately after training, while 24 hours after training, the kinematics of these joints were back to baseline level. The addition of unsupervised training with visual feedback, performed 24 hours after the supervised training, helped return kinematics back to the level observed immediately after supervised training. In conclusion, supervised movement training with feedback brought temporary changes in the upper limb motor strategies and improved some aspects of the kinematics. One supervised training session was not enough to bring about permanent improvement in the kinematic patterns. However, unsupervised training helped to regain the improved kinematics and appears to be a good complement to supervised training. Therefore, our results support the use of movement training to rehabilitate the motor deficits associated with SIS

Cervicovestibular rehabilitation in adult with mild traumatic brain injury: a randomised controlled trial protocol

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is an acknowledged public health problem. Up to 25% of adult with mTBI present persistent symptoms. Headache, dizziness, nausea and neck pain are the most commonly reported symptoms and are frequently associated with cervical spine and vestibular impairments. The most recent international consensus statement (2017 Berlin consensus) recommends the addition of an individualized rehabilitation approach for mTBI with persistent symptoms. The addition of an individualized rehabilitation approach including the evaluation and treatment of cervical and vestibular impairments leading to symptoms such as neck pain, headache and dizziness is, however, recommended based only on limited scientific evidence. The benefit of such intervention should therefore be further investigated

Do psychosocial factors predict the persistence of shoulder pain?

Background and aims: The key mechanisms involved in the development of persistent shoulder pain are still not clearly understood. Even if psychosocial factors have been shown to be associate with chronicization of musculoskeletal pain, few studies have explored the impact of these factors in the persistence of rotator cuff related shoulder pain (RCRSP). The aim of this study was to identify the psychosocial risk factors associated with persistence of pain in individuals with RCRSP after an education program targeting shoulder pain self-management. Methods: Fifty-nine participants with persistent RCRSP completed this study (43.9±11.5years; 61%women; 70% had pain duration > 1year). Using the RedCap web application, all participants filled questionnaires covering a biopsychosocial spectrum: Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire (QuickDASH), Patient-Health Questionnaire – 9 (PHQ-9), General Anxiety Disorder – 7 (GAD-7), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Thereafter, participants took part in an educational program aimed at promoting self-management of shoulder pain that included two meetings with a physiotherapist. After 3 months, participants filled the QuickDASH and, based on their scores, were classified as having persistent shoulder pain (score>11) or as recovered (score=0-11). Results: The symptoms of 24 participants (~41%) were considered resolved at 3 months. A binomial logistic regression demonstrated that only PSEQ was associated with symptoms resolution (p=.04). Lower level of self-efficacy was associated with persistent pain at 3 months (Odds Ratio= 1.08 95%Confidence Interval (CI): 1.00, 1.17. No variables predicted persistent RCRSP. Conclusions: Pain self-efficacy was the most important factor in avoiding the development of persistent RCRSP.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Running gait modifications can lead to immediate reductions in patellofemoral pain

Gait modifications are commonly advocated to decrease knee forces and pain in runners with patellofemoral pain (PFP). However, it remains unknown if clinicians can expect immediate effects on symptoms. Our objectives were (1) to compare the immediate effects of gait modifications on pain and kinetics of runners with PFP; (2) to compare kinetic changes in responders and non-responders; and (3) to compare the effects between rearfoot strikers (RFS) and non-RFS. Sixty-eight runners with PFP (42 women, 26 men) ran normally on a treadmill before testing six modifications: 1- increase step rate by 10%; 2- 180 steps per minute; 3- decrease step rate by 10%; 4- forefoot striking; 5- heel striking; 6- running softer. Overall, there were more responders (pain decreased ≥1/10 compared with normal gait) during forefoot striking and increasing step rate by 10% (both 35%). Responders showed greater reductions in peak patellofemoral joint force than non-responders during all conditions except heel striking. When compared with non-RFS, RFS reduced peak patellofemoral joint force in a significant manner (P < 0.001) during forefoot striking (partial η2 = 0.452) and running softer (partial η2 = 0.302). Increasing step rate by 10% reduced peak patellofemoral joint force in both RFS and non-RFS. Forty-two percent of symptomatic runners reported immediate reductions in pain during ≥1 modification, and 28% had reduced pain during ≥3 modifications. Gait modifications leading to decreased patellofemoral joint forces may be associated with immediate pain reductions in runners with PFP. Other mechanisms may be involved, given that some runners reported decreased symptoms regardless of kinetic changes