Postural stability in football players with chronic ankle instability

Wstęp. Piłkarze nożni narażeni są na częste urazy supinacyjne stawu skokowo-goleniowego, który, wielokrotnie powtarzany, sprzyja powstaniu przewlekłej niestabilności (CAI). Dotychczasowe badania wskazują, iż CAI nie wpływa istotnie na stabilność posturalną w warunkach statycznych, jednakże istnieją przypuszczenia, że w warunkach dynamicznych może mieć istotne znaczenie. Z tego powodu celem naszych badań była analiza stabilności posturalnej w warunkach dynamicznych, z uwzględnieniem dominacji kończyny dolnej. Materiał i metody. W badaniu wzięło udział 28 piłkarzy nożnych (w wieku 26,1±5,4) zakwalifikowanych do grupy CAI zgodnie z kryteriami kwalifikacji International Ankle Consortium oraz 37 piłkarzy (w wieku 27,3±5,2), bez wcześniejszej historii urazu supinacyjnego, tworzących grupę kontrolną (CTRL). Do oceny stabilności posturalnej w pozycji stania obunóż oraz jednonóż w warunkach dynamicznych wykorzystano platformę Biodex Balance System. Wyniki. W postawie obunóż zaobserwowano różnice istotne statystycznie (p<0,05) między grupami CAI (OSI 7,01±2,43; APSI 5,18±1,85) i CTRL (OSI 5,27±1,42; APSI 3,98± 1,42). W postawie jednonóż zauważono podobne trendy, gdzie CAI uzyskała istotnie statystycznie (p<0,05) wyższe wyniki w analizowanych parametrach. Funkcja kończyny dolnej odgrywała istotną rolę w grupie CTRL w parametrach OSI (dom. 7,23±1,48; n-dom. 5,64±1,51) oraz MLSI (dom. 3,8±0,64; n-dom. 3.07±0,97). Wnioski. CAI upośledza stabilność posturalną u piłkarzy nożnych w warunkach dynamicznych zarówno w postawie obunóż, jak i jednonóż, jednakże funkcja kończyny dolnej istotnie wpływa na kontrolę posturalną jedynie w grupie CTRL.Background. Football players are exposed to frequent supination injuries of the talocrural joint and repeated injuries lead to chronic ankle instability (CAI). Previous study results indicate that CAI do not significantly affect postural stability under static conditions, however, it is suspected that it may aggravate under dynamic conditions. Therefore, the goal of this study was analysis of postural stability under dynamic conditions with regard to dominance of the lower limb. Material and methods. The sample comprised 28 football players (age = 26.1±5.4), included in CAI group according to the Ankle Consortium inclusion criteria and 37 football players (age = 27.3±5.2) with no history of supination injuries, included in the control group (CTRL). Biodex Balance System platform was used for postural stability assessment during single leg standing under dynamic conditions. Results. During single leg standing statistically significant between-group differences were noted (p<0.05). The following values were obtained in CAI and CTRL groups respectively: CAI: (OSI 7.01±2.43; APSI 5.18±1.85), CTRL: (OSI 5.27±1.42; APSI 3.98±1.42). During single leg standing similar trends were observed. CAI group obtained statistically significant (p<0.05), higher values of the studied parameters. Lower limb function played an important role in CTRL group as for OSI (dom. 7.23±1.48; n-dom. 5.64±1.51) and MLSI (dom. 3.8±0.64; n-dom. 3.07±0.97) parameters. Conclusions. CAI impairs postural stability in footballers under dynamic conditions, both during single and double leg standing, however, the lower limb function significantly affects postural control only in CTRL group

Analysis of patellofemoral arthrokinematic motion quality in open and closed kinetic chains using vibroarthrography

Abstract Background Knee movements performed in open (OKC) and closed (CKC) kinetic chains generate various patterns of muscle activities and especially distinct contact stresses in the patellofemoral joint (PFJ). In contrast to these features, the arthrokinematic motion quality (AMQ) of the PFJ has not been compared between mentioned conditions. In this study we performed vibroarthrographic analysis of AMQ in movements performed in OKC and CKC, in healthy subjects and individuals with chondromalacia patellae, to assess which of the test conditions is more efficient in differentiation between healthy and deteriorated joints. Moreover, our analysis will broaden the knowledge related to behavior of normal and pathological synovial joints during motion with and without weight bearing. It is an essential issue, due to the recently observed significant interest in comparing potential benefits and limitations of CKC and OKC exercises as they relate to lower extremity rehabilitation. Methods 100 subjects (62 healthy controls and 38 subjects with PFJ chondromalacia) were enrolled. During repeated knee flexion/extension motions performed in OKC (in a sitting position) and CKC (sit-to-stand movements), the vibroarthrographic signals were collected using an accelerometer and described by variability (VMS), amplitude (R4), and spectral power in 50–250 Hz (P1) and 250–450 Hz (P2) bands. Results Significant differences in VMS [V], R4 [V], P1 [V2/Hz] and P2 [V2/Hz] between OKC and CKC were found (0.0001, 0.969. 0.800 0.041 vs 0.013, 3.973, 6.790, 0.768, respectively, P < 0.001). Moreover, in both analyzed load-related conditions the subjects with chondromalacia were characterized by significantly higher values of all parameters, when compared to controls (P < 0.001), with effect size values over 0.6. Conclusions We showed that motion of the physiological, unloaded PFJ articular surfaces in OKC is nearly vibrationless, which corresponds with optimal AMQ of PFJ, while loaded movements in CKC are characterized by a higher vibroacoustic emission level. Moreover, chondral lesions should be considered as an increased friction-related, aggravating factor of AMQ, which is critical in CKC movements under load. Nonetheless, OKC and CKC conditions are characterized by large effect sizes, and provide an efficient test frame for differentiating physiological knees and joints with chondral lesions

Repeatability of the Vibroarthrogram in the Temporomandibular Joints

Current research concerning the repeatability of the joint’s sounds examination in the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) is inconclusive; thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the repeatability of the specific features of the vibroarthrogram (VAG) in the TMJ using accelerometers. The joint sounds of both TMJs were measured with VAG accelerometers in two groups, study and control, each consisting of 47 participants (n = 94). Two VAG recording sessions consisted of 10 jaw open/close cycles guided by a metronome. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated for seven VAG signal features. Additionally, a k-nearest-neighbors (KNN) classifier was defined and compared with a state-of-the-art method (joint vibration analysis (JVA) decision tree). ICC indicated excellent (for the integral below 300 Hz feature), good (total integral, integral above 300 Hz, and median frequency features), moderate (integral below to integral above 300 Hz ratio feature) and poor (peak amplitude feature) reliability. The accuracy scores for the KNN classifier (up to 0.81) were higher than those for the JVA decision tree (up to 0.60). The results of this study could open up a new field of research focused on the features of the vibroarthrogram in the context of the TMJ, further improving the diagnosing process

Age-Related Impairment of Quality of Joint Motion in Vibroarthrographic Signal Analysis

Aging is associated with degenerative changes in articular surfaces leading to quantitative and qualitative impairment of joint motion. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate an age-related quality of the patellofemoral joint (PFJ) motion in the vibroarthrographic (VAG) signal analysis. Two hundred and twenty individuals were enrolled in this study and divided into five groups according to age. The VAG signals were collected during flexion/extension knee motion using an acceleration sensor and described using four parameters (VMS, P1, P2, and H). We observed that values of parameters VMS, P1, and P2 increase in accordance with the age, but H level decreases. The most significant differences were achieved between the youngest and the oldest participants’ groups. Moreover, we show that parameters VMS, P1, and P2 positively correlate with age, contrary to negatively associated H parameter. Our results suggest that the impairment of joint motion is a result of age-related osteoarticular degenerative changes

Using Nonlinear Vibroartrographic Parameters for Age-Related Changes Assessment in Knee Arthrokinematics

Changes in articular surfaces can be associated with the aging process and as such may lead to quantitative and qualitative impairment of joint motion. This study is aiming to evaluate the age-related quality of the knee joint arthrokinematic motion using nonlinear parameters of the vibroarthrographic (VAG) signal. To analyse the age-related quality of the patellofemoral joint (PFJ), motion vibroarthrography was used. The data that were subject to analysis represent 220 participants divided into five age groups. The VAG signals were acquired during flexion/extension knee motion and described with the following nonlinear parameters: recurrence rate (RR) and multi-scale entropy (MSE). RR and MSE decrease almost in a linear way with age (main effects of group p0.001; means (SD): RR=0.101(0.057)−0.020(0.017); and MSE=20.9(8.56)−13.6(6.24)). The RR post-hoc analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences (p0.01) in all comparisons with the exception of the 5th–6th life decade. For MSE, statistically significant differences (p0.01) occurred for: 3rd–7th, 4th–7th, 5th–7th and 6th life decades. Our results imply that degenerative age-related changes are associated with lower repeatability, greater heterogeneity in state space dynamics, and greater regularity in the time domain of VAG signal. In comparison with linear VAG measures, our results provide additional information about the nature of changes of the vibration dynamics of PFJ motion with age

Vibroarthrographic Signal Spectral Features in 5-Class Knee Joint Classification

Vibroarthrography (VAG) is a non-invasive and potentially widely available method supporting the joint diagnosis process. This research was conducted using VAG signals classified to five different condition classes: three stages of chondromalacia patellae, osteoarthritis, and control group (healthy knee joint). Ten new spectral features were proposed, distinguishing not only neighboring classes, but every class combination. Additionally, Frequency Range Maps were proposed as the frequency feature extraction visualization method. The results were compared to state-of-the-art frequency features using the Bhattacharyya coefficient and the set of ten different classification algorithms. All methods evaluating proposed features indicated the superiority of the new features compared to the state-of-the-art. In terms of Bhattacharyya coefficient, newly proposed features proved to be over 25% better, and the classification accuracy was on average 9% better

Caffeine-Induced Effects on Human Skeletal Muscle Contraction Time and Maximal Displacement Measured by Tensiomyography

Studies on muscle activation time in sport after caffeine supplementation confirmed the effectiveness of caffeine. The novel approach was to determine whether a dose of 9 mg/kg/ body mass (b.m.) of caffeine affects the changes of contraction time and the displacement of electrically stimulated muscle (gastrocnemius medialis) in professional athletes who regularly consume products rich in caffeine and do not comply with the caffeine discontinuation period requirements. The study included 40 professional male handball players (age = 23.13 ± 3.51, b.m. = 93.51 ± 15.70 kg, height 191 ± 7.72, BMI = 25.89 ± 3.10). The analysis showed that in the experimental group the values of examined parameters were significantly reduced (p ≤ 0.001) (contraction time: before = 20.60 ± 2.58 ms/ after = 18.43 ± 3.05 ms; maximal displacement: before = 2.32 ± 0.80 mm/after = 1.69 ± 0.51 mm). No significant changes were found in the placebo group. The main achievement of this research was to demonstrate that caffeine at a dose of 9 mg/kg in professional athletes who regularly consume products rich in caffeine has a direct positive effect on the mechanical activity of skeletal muscle stimulated by an electric pulse