Having performed thousands of bike fits, I now believe that the bicycle’s crank arm length is the most important factor when performing a bike fit. Every other anatomical dimension and joint angle is based upon the length of the crank arms; therefore, this is the first factor to address when performing a bike fit.
By Rick Schultz
January 2022
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Cover Story
Publisher Memo
As I write this Publisher’s Memo, yet another in-person conference has been canceled due to Covid-19. While I thought we were making progress with more events going back to live, Covid-19 has once again reared its ugly head, dampening the demand for in-person...
By Rich Dubin
Features
The development of foot orthotics—both their prescription designs and their manufacturing processes—is continuously evolving as new materials and new manufacturing technologies arise to meet the changing demands of today’s medical and sport performance needs.
By Keith Loria
Obesity is among today’s most pressing public health concerns and it’s negative impact on the human body—particularly in light of SARS-COV-2 infection, can be devastating. Once gained, losing weight can be difficult, but maintaining weight loss is even more difficult. This author provides evidence-based tips for maintaining lost pounds that you can share with patients and clients.
By Jason R. Karp, PhD
Some have worried that foot orthoses that shift plantar load may alter the mechanical work of internal structures and change the size of muscle and connective tissues, and actually make them smaller. These authors challenge that notion.
By Joanna Reeves, Richard Jones, Anmin Liu, Leah Bent, Ana Martinez-Santos, and Christopher Nester
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. It acts as a support structure, giving the skin strength and elasticity. Collagen also plays an essential role in wound healing. During the proliferative phase, fibroblasts migrate into wounded tissues and lay down new...
By Windy Cole, DPM, CWSPShortTakes From the Literature
Exercise is recognized as the most efficient, cost-effective, and accessible “polypill” to prevent and treat more than 35 chronic diseases and health conditions that include cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its major risk factors (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, obesity, and physical inactivity).
According to Alan Davis, MD, orthopedic surgeon from the Cleveland Clinic, when patients present with end-stage bone-on-bone arthritis, surgeons have 2 choices. Ankle fusion (arthrodesis) is recommended for patients who are younger or have large deformities, poor bone...
Bipedal trackways discovered in 1978 at Laetoli site G, Tanzania and dated to 3.66 million years ago are widely accepted as the oldest unequivocal evidence of obligate bipedalism in the human lineage. Another trackway discovered two years earlier at nearby site A was...
With the increased use of technology, relaxation interventions are finding their way into technology devices like virtual reality head-mounted displays (VR HMDs). However, there is a lack of evidence on the efficacy of VR relaxation interventions to reduce anxiety in athletes and how that is portrayed in their movement patterns.
Carrying a backpack can increase reactive forces on the soil and plantar pressure, and this increase can be conditioned by the child’s educational level. The increase in ground reaction force (GRF) was noted while children carried a backpack weighing only 7.5%...
Despite the current recommendations that stable Weber B ankle fractures can be treated with functional bracing and weightbearing as tolerated, some reluctance exists among trauma surgeons to follow these recommendations. This paper reports on our institution’s experience in managing these injuries and compare it to the national guidelines.
Highlights of 2021 DFCon Meeting
About DFCon: On September 29th-October 1st, 2022, the 22nd edition of the interdisciplinary Diabetic Foot Conference (DFCon) will be held in Los Angeles at the Hilton Universal Conference Hotel. It will also be possible to attend virtually – as the program will also be livestreamed.
Each year, DFCon gathers influential speakers and delivers outstanding scientific content. DFCon will not only do that, it will also present new opportunities for networking and many participants and speakers who did not yet have the opportunity to experience DFCon previously due to travel and resource restrictions will get the chance now with DFCon. As always, the DFCon conference allows the best in their field to come together and learn from each other. DFCon also serves as a hands-on, dynamic congress where delegates can use the experience to immediately bring impact to their daily clinical practice. You will learn more about the different topics and sessions on the following pages.
Uninsured patients with diabetes are at high risk for amputations. This case series illustrates that the medical and specialty services provided by a free interprofessional student clinic were of a vital necessity in healing diabetic foot ulcers and preventing amputations in...
The American Limb Preservation Society (ALPS) serves as an interdisciplinary bridge between varied groups and organizations with respective roles to play in lower limb preservation. As part of its collective goal to eliminate...
Few studies suggested that frailty may increase inflammation, which in turn may negatively impact tissue repair in people with significant tissue loss. This study aims to shed light on potential impact of frailty on outcomes of skin-substitute placement in patients with...
A descriptive questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample of all diabetic patients who attend the specialist diabetes and endocrine center in Prince Mansour Military Hospital in Taif, Saudi Arabia. A monofilament test was used to...
Guidelines recommend adjunctive therapies for diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) without >50% wound area reduction after 4 weeks of standard care. This delays advanced care in nearly 50% of DFUs. We sought to evaluate the ability of a multispectral imaging to predict DFU...
Prolonged immobilization may inevitably lead to complications such as muscle dysfunction and consequently, intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICUAW) among critically ill COVID-19 patients. This pilot-study examined the effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability of...
Industry News & Updates
The University of Utah chemical engineering assistant professor Huanan Zhang, PhD, and his team have developed a process that turns ordinary textile made of a cotton/polyester blend into sensors that measure electrical impulses generated from muscle movement.
Researchers from Harvard University’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have developed a new approach in which robotic exosuit assistance can be calibrated to an...
Northwestern University investigators have discovered the molecular signature of a subset of dopaminergic neurons with an increased vulnerability to degeneration. The findings shed light on the mechanisms at play within a small subsection of the brain’s substantia nigra, called the...
The Biomechanics Initiative has announced 4 grant programs to support minority sponsored events for National Biomechanics Day, to be held on April 6, 2022. The day-long event is designed to introduce biomechanics to high school students around the globe.
Varian, a Siemens Healthineers company, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the company Breakthrough Device Designation for its Embozene® microspheres for genicular artery embolization (GAE), a minimally invasive procedure, for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA). Embozene is a medical device that is FDA cleared for the embolization of hypervascular tumors, arteriovenous […]
Oregon State University – Cascades (OSU-Cascades) launched the first doctor of physical therapy (DPT) degree program at a state public university this fall, welcoming an initial cohort of 45 students.
The Last Word
COVID-19 outbreak has a profound impact on almost every aspect of life. Universal masking is recommended as a means of source control. Routinely exercising in a safe environment is an important strategy for healthy living during this crisis.
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