Gait and trunk movement patterns of low back pain patients and healthy volunteers during supported and conventional treadmill walking

This study investigates the effects of body weight supported and conventional treadmill walking on gait and trunk motion of asymptomatic people and low back pain (LBP) patients. Forty participants, 19 LBP patients and 21 asymptomatic individuals were recruited. Significant differences were found in gait and trunk kinematic parameters between the two walking conditions, in both participant groups

Muscle activity during aquatic and land exercises in people with and without low back pain.

BackgroundChronic low back pain (CLBP) is the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorder. Aquatic exercises are commonly used by physical therapists for CLBP treatment and management; however, there are no data on trunk muscle activation during aquatic exercises in people with CLBP.ObjectiveWe quantified activation of trunk and gluteal muscles, exercise intensity, pain, and perceived exertion in people with and without CLBP when performing water and land exercises.DesignThe study used a cross-sectional design.MethodsTwenty participants with non-specific CLBP and 20 healthy participants performed 15 aquatic exercises and 15 similar land exercises. Mean and peak muscle activation were measured bilaterally from erector spinae, multifidus, gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, rectus abdominis, external oblique, and internal oblique, using waterproof and wireless surface electromyography. Exercise intensity (heart rate), perceived exertion (Borg scale), and for the CLBP group, pain (visual analog scale) were recorded.ResultsThere were no significant between-group differences. Significant between-environment differences were found in heart rate (always higher on land), exertion (higher in the water for 3 exercises and on land for 6 exercises) and muscle activation (higher on land in 29% and in the water in 5% of comparisons). Pain levels were low, but pain was reported more than twice as frequently on land than in water (7.7% vs 3.7%, respectively).LimitationsPeople with high levels of disability and CLBP classification were not included.ConclusionsPeople with mild-to-moderate CLBP had similar exercise responses to healthy controls. Aquatic exercise produced sufficient muscle activation, intensity, and exertion, and should not be assumed to be less strenuous or less effective in activating trunk and pelvic muscles than exercise on land. These data can be used to inform design and prescription of rehabilitation programs and interventions

Embodied inter subjective engagement in mother-infant tactile communication: a cross-cultural study of Japanese and Scottish mother-infant behaviors during infant pick-up

This study examines the early development of cultural differences in a simple, embodied, and intersubjective engagement between mothers putting down, picking up, and carrying their infants between Japan and Scotland. Eleven Japanese and ten Scottish mothers with their 6- and then 9-month-old infants participated. Video and motion analyses were employed to measure motor patterns of the mothers' approach to their infants, as well as their infants' collaborative responses during put-down, pick-up, and carry phases. Japanese and Scottish mothers approached their infants with different styles and their infants responded differently to the short duration of separation during the trial. A greeting-like behavior of the arms and hands was prevalent in the Scottish mothers' approach, but not in the Japanese mothers' approach. Japanese mothers typically kneeled before making the final reach to pick-up their children, giving a closer, apparently gentler final approach of the torso than Scottish mothers, who bent at the waist with larger movements of the torso. Measures of the gap closure between the mothers' hands to their infants' heads revealed variably longer duration and distance gap closures with greater velocity by the Scottish mothers than by the Japanese mothers. Further, the sequence of Japanese mothers' body actions on approach, contact, pick-up, and hold was more coordinated at 6 months than at 9 months. Scottish mothers were generally more variable on approach. Measures of infant participation and expressivity indicate more active participation in the negotiation during the separation and pick-up phases by Scottish infants. Thus, this paper demonstrates a culturally different onset of development of joint attention in pick-up. These differences reflect cultures of everyday interaction

Autonomous Gait Event Detection with Portable Single-Camera Gait Kinematics Analysis System

Laboratory-based nonwearable motion analysis systems have significantly advanced with robust objective measurement of thelimb motion, resulting in quantified, standardized, and reliable outcome measures compared with traditional, semisubjective,observational gait analysis. However, the requirement for large laboratory space and operational expertise makes these systemsimpractical for gait analysis at local clinics and homes. In this paper, we focus on autonomous gait event detection with our bespoke,relatively inexpensive, and portable, single-camera gait kinematics analysis system. Our proposed systemincludes video acquisitionwith camera calibration, Kalman filter + Structural-Similarity-based marker tracking, autonomous knee angle calculation, videoframe-identification-based autonomous gait event detection, and result visualization. The only operational effort required is themarker-template selection for tracking initialization, aided by an easy-to-use graphic user interface.The knee angle validation on10 stroke patients and 5 healthy volunteers against a gold standard optical motion analysis system indicates very good agreement.The autonomous gait event detection shows high detection rates for all gait events. Experimental results demonstrate that theproposed system can automatically measure the knee angle and detect gait events with good accuracy and thus offer an alternative,cost-effective, and convenient solution for clinical gait kinematics analysis

A Randomized Controlled Evaluation of the Efficacy of an Ankle-Foot Cast on Walking Recovery Early After Stroke: SWIFT Cast Trial

Background. Timely provision of an ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) orthotist customized for individuals early after stroke can be problematic. Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of a therapist-made AFO (SWIFT Cast) for walking recovery. Methods.This was a randomized controlled, observer-blind trial. Participants (n = 105) were recruited 3 to 42 days poststroke.All received conventional physical therapy (CPT) that included use of “off-the-shelf” and orthotist-made AFOs. People allocated to the experimental group also received a SWIFT Cast for up to 6 weeks. Measures were undertaken before randomization, 6 weeks thereafter (outcome), and at 6 months after stroke (follow-up). The primary measure was walking speed. Clinical efficacy evaluation used analysis of covariance. Results. Use of a SWIFT Cast during CPT sessions wassignificantly higher (P < .001) for the SWIFT Cast (55%) than the CPT group (3%). The CPT group used an AFO in 26% of CPT sessions, compared with 11% for the SWIFT Cast group (P = .005). At outcome, walking speed was 0.42 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.37) m/s for the CPT group and 0.32 (SD = 0.34) m/s for the SWIFT Cast group. Follow-up walking speed was 0.53 (SD = 0.38) m/s for the CPT group and 0.43 (0.34) m/s for the SWIFT Cast group. Differences, after accounting for minimization factors, were insignificant at outcome (P = .345) and follow-up (P = .360). Conclusion and implications.SWIFT Cast did not enhance the benefit of CPT, but the control group had greater use of another AFO. However, SWIFT Cast remains a clinical option because it is low cost and custom-made by therapists who can readily adapt it during the rehabilitation period

The Effects Of Carrying A Simulated Rifle During A Backpack Load-carriage Task

A-46 Free Communication/Poster - Fitness Assessment Wednesday, June 1, 2016, 7:30 AM - 12:30 PM Room: Exhibit Hall A/BPURPOSE: Identifying the effects of carrying a rifle during backpack load-carriage is of interest to the military. This study measured the metabolic cost, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and stride characteristics for two backpack load-carriage tasks. METHODS: Male participants with military experiences (n = 14) completed each of the incremental treadmill walking/running protocols (speeds range: 6.4-12.4 km·h-1) while carrying a total of 24 kg to volitional exhaustion. The two conditions of the study were: carrying a 24 kg backpack only, and carrying a 20.2 kg backpack with a 3.8 kg simulated rifle in two hands. Oxygen uptake, heart rate, ventilation, metabolic equivalents, RPE and stride length/frequency were recorded at each incremental stage. A univariate factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to measure the main effects within the conditions and interaction effects between conditions. RESULTS: All interaction effects for each variable were insignificant. Welch’s unequal variance t-test was used to measure the significance between conditions at each incremental stage. Carrying the rifle significantly increased %VO2 peak at 8.4 and 9.4 km·h-1; minute ventilation at 12.4 km·h-1; metabolic equivalents at 8.4 and 9.4 km·h-1, and RPE at 12.4 km·h-1. Stride length significantly decreased at 8.4, 9.4, 11.4, and 12.4 km·h-1, compared to carrying the backpack only (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Results from the ANOVA concluded that carrying a rifle has no significant effect on load-carriage performance. Nevertheless, analysis of Welch’s t-test provided evidence for future research to cross-validate these finding

The development and validation of an augmented video based portable system

Three dimensional (3D) motion analysis systems have demonstrated clinical acceptance with the incorporation of active (light emitting diodes) marker and passive (retroreflective) marker measurement systems [1]. Despite the high reliability of 3D motion analysis systems, they remain expensive, complex to operate, time consuming, difficult to understand in terms of data interpretation, and often they are beyond the means and capacity of most rehabilitation services. The need has arisen to develop a 2D video system that meets the requirements of accessibility in terms of cost, operability and portability [2] and [3]. Within our laboratory a new augmented video based portable system (AVPS) that uses a low cost simple video technique has been developed. This study reports the concurrent validity of the new AVPS as a potential rehabilitation assessment tool that could be used within the clinical setting