Hello Biomechanists Worldwide… As we prepare for National Biomechanics Day (NBD) April 3,2024, we thought a recap of last year’s event in order. National Biomechanics Day 2023 celebrated our Breakthrough Science for the eighth consecutive year in 15 countries around the world. Some of our new national friends include Marcus Tilp and Hans Kainz at the University of...
By Paul DeVita, PhD; Lisa MacFadden, PhD; and Felipe Carpes, PhD
March 2024
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Cover Story
Features
Patients with knee and hip OA frequently have pain, muscle weakness, impaired joint proprioception, and poor balance, which are important risk factors for falls. Falls and osteoarthritis (OA) are major public health problems. The incidence of falls and fractures increases with age, and knee OA and hip OA are also highly prevalent in older populations.
By Youyou Zhang, Xiaoxi Li, Yining Wang, Liru Ge, Faming Pan, Tania Winzenberg, and Guoqi Cai
Background: Treadmills are the most popular piece of exercise equipment, with millions of people in the United States (US) using the devices each year. Thousands of people are treated for treadmill-related injuries in the US annually. The objective of this study was to describe treadmill-related lower extremity injuries treated at US hospital emergency departments (EDs).
By Mathias B. Forrester, BS
The management of DFUs complicated by the effects of lower limb edema is clinically challenging, and both conditions can require a multifaceted treatment approach. Lower limb edema is a common comorbidity in those with diabetes and foot ulceration and is linked with increased amputation risk.
By Justine Tansley, MRCPod; Richard Collings, PhD, DSc (Hons); Jennifer Williams, BSc (Hons); and Joanne Paton, PhD, MSc
Addressing associated reduced muscle function and strength may improve treatment outcomes for plantar heel pain. People with plantar heel pain (PHP) have reduced foot and ankle muscle function, strength, and size, which is frequently treated by muscle strengthening exercises.
By John W. A. Osborne, PhDc; Hylton B. Menz, PhD, DSc, BPod(Hons); Glen A. Whittaker, PhD, BPod(Hons); and Karl B. Landorf, PhDShortTakes From the Literature
According to a new study1 by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, multiple sclerosis (MS) is more prevalent – particularly among Black Americans – than previously thought. Using de-identified health insurance claims of 96 million adults living in the United States, the research team was able to estimate in more detail how many individuals age 18 and...
A new scoping review from Japan suggests that low-frequency and low-intensity vibration therapies helped effectively treat wounds (including pressure injuries, diabetic foot ulcers, and venous leg ulcers) by improving blood flow, relieving pain, reducing exudate, removing necrotic tissue, and increasing the expression of nitric oxide associated with wound healing.
Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is diagnosed when symptoms (perceptions of the ankle ‘giving way’, pain, weakness, or limited ankle range of motion) have persisted for more than 1 year after an initial lateral ankle sprain. Therapeutic exercise is a key treatment for overcoming neuromuscular deficits in CAI. In this study, researchers from...
User metabolic power during walking in flat-soled shoes decreased following daily high-heel use. High heels remodel leg muscle-tendons & improve walking economy regardless of footwear condition.
The inaugural meeting of the Tai Chi & Qigong as Whole Person Health Conference was held in Boston, MA, in September 2023. It was hosted by the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine and jointly sponsored by the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Nearly 300 experts, professors, researchers, and professionals from...
American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association 2023 National Assembly Highlights
Chronic conditions such as diabetes and peripheral vascular disease were the leading cause of amputation for more than 60% of patients treated at Indiana University Center for Limb Loss (CLL), a Level 1 Trauma Center, according to a new retrospective study. In looking at the electronic medical records of 218 amputee patients who...
The US Amputee Football Federation (USAFF) provides participants with an environment and opportunity to regain hope that may have been lost after amputation. Through a sense of teamwork, competitiveness, and achievement, participating in football/soccer allows those with amputations to build physical strength, improve body awareness, balance, and coordination, and develop social skills.
By reducing weight, lead times, and costs, 3-D printing or additive manufacturing (AM) offers significant opportunities for better customization in orthotic and prosthetic development. Today’s state-of-the-art scanning technologies allow for the design of components with complex geometries that can improve the functionality of orthoses and prostheses.
While 3D printing has dramatically accelerated the customization process for manufacturing orthotics and prosthetics, it’s often today’s post-processing technologies that make those applications possible. The ability to create washable and sealed surfaces that maintain material properties or the chance to add any color you want – from Pantone to customized skin colors and all of that matching the standards for biocompatibility is a real game changer.
A recent survey found that experienced orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) device users with a chronic disability liked the range of care they received from certified O&P providers, were “very satisfied” with the device-related goals they had achieved, and reported they could not maintain their current level of function without certified P&O providers.
Prosthetic device users have a wide range of needs and prosthetists need to be aware of varying product offerings to meet those needs. Pseudo-prostheses allow able-bodied users to understand ambulation in a specific device, providing critical education about new products as well as ongoing training for evolving products.
A fundamental understanding of the way soft interface materials compare to one another provides insight to the clinician and fabricator. Example: Compare different types of polyurethane and their accompanying reported data. Some data has been collected into the comparison chart on the right...
Industry News & Updates
Finnish-based Taika3D, a global provider of custom orthotics software, announced its collaboration with Mosaic Manufacturing, Toronto, Canada, a provider of 3D printing solutions, aimed at elevating the design and manufacture of orthoses, cost-effectively and at scale. This collaboration optimizes Taika3D’s design automation software for...
The 2 menisci per knee are susceptible to wear and injury, and the meniscus is generally not a favorable candidate for a surgical procedure because blood is only supplied in certain sections. Toward this end, researchers at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology—doctoral student Federica Orellana and...
Parag Chitnis, PhD, of George Mason University led a team that developed a wearable ultrasound system that can produce clinically relevant information about muscle function during dynamic physical activity. Many medical technologies can give doctors a window into the inner workings of a patient’s body, but few can be used while that patient is moving.
A new innovation by Chatchanee Pakavatsoontorn, a lecturer with Chulalongkorn University (Chula) Engineering, Thailand, checks body balance and balance loss for behavior changes and fall prevention to promote fall risk awareness and knowledge. The “Balance Assessment Device,” with only...
Hanger Inc., a provider of orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) patient care services and solutions, announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Fillauer, an O&P manufacturer and innovator. Fillauer is a family-owned company with a legacy of over 100 years.
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) announced that its 2024 Annual Meeting (May 28–31) will start off with a special preconference event: a Planning Meeting for the International Society of Exercise Oncology. The target audience includes exercise oncology researchers...
The Last Word
Although it is known that resistance training can be as effective as stretch training to increase joint range of motion, to date no comprehensive meta-analysis has investigated the effects of resistance training on range of motion with all its potential affecting variables.
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