ORCID Profile
0000-0001-7877-6755
Current Organisation
University of Bath
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 26-01-2021
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.10623
Abstract: Clinical assessment of spinal impairment in Axial Spondyloarthritis is currently performed using the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrological Index (BASMI). Despite being appreciated for its simplicity, the BASMI index lacks sensitivity and specificity of spinal changes, demonstrating poor association with radiographical range of motion (ROM). Inertial measurement units (IMUs) have shown promising results as a cost-effective method to quantitatively examine movement of the human body, however errors due to sensor angular drift have limited their application to a clinical space. Therefore, this article presents a wearable sensor protocol that facilitates unrestrained orientation measurements in space while limiting sensor angular drift through a novel constraint-based approach. Eleven healthy male participants performed five BASMI-inspired functional movements where spinal ROM and continuous kinematics were calculated for five spine segments and four spinal joint levels (lumbar, lower thoracic, upper thoracic and cervical). A Bland–Altman analysis was used to assess the level of agreement on range of motion measurements, whilst intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), standardised error measurement, and minimum detectable change (MDC) to assess relative and absolute reliability. Continuous kinematics error was investigated through root mean square error (RMSE), maximum absolute error (MAE) and Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ). The overall error in the measurement of continuous kinematic measures was low in both the sagittal (RMSE = 2.1°), and frontal plane (RMSE = 2.3°). ROM limits of agreement (LoA) and minimum detectable change were excellent for the sagittal plane (maximum value LoA 1.9° and MDC 2.4°) and fair for lateral flexion (overall value LoA 4.8° and MDC 5.7°). The reliability analysis showed excellent level of agreement (ICC 0.9) for both segment and joint ROM across all movements. The results from this study demonstrated better or equivalent accuracy than previous studies and were considered acceptable for application in a clinical setting. The protocol has shown to be a valuable tool for the assessment of spinal ROM and kinematics, but a clinical validation study on Axial Spondyloarthritis patients is required for the development and testing of a novel mobility index.
Publisher: ASME International
Date: 02-11-2021
DOI: 10.1115/1.4052555
Abstract: Knowledge of neck muscle activation strategies before sporting impacts is crucial for investigating mechanisms of severe spinal injuries. However, measurement of muscle activations during impacts is experimentally challenging and computational estimations are not often guided by experimental measurements. We investigated neck muscle activations before impacts with the use of electromyography (EMG)-assisted neuromusculoskeletal models. Kinematics and EMG recordings from four major neck muscles of a rugby player were experimentally measured during rugby activities. A subject-specific musculoskeletal model was created with muscle parameters informed from MRI measurements. The model was used in the calibrated EMG-informed neuromusculoskeletal modeling toolbox and three neural solutions were compared: (i) static optimization (SO), (ii) EMG-assisted (EMGa), and (iii) MRI-informed EMG-assisted (EMGaMRI). EMGaMRI and EMGa significantly (p & 0.01) outperformed SO when tracking cervical spine net joint moments from inverse dynamics in flexion/extension (RMSE = 0.95, 1.14, and 2.32 N·m) but not in lateral bending (RMSE = 1.07, 2.07, and 0.84 N·m). EMG-assisted solutions generated physiological muscle activation patterns and maintained experimental cocontractions significantly (p & 0.01) outperforming SO, which was characterized by saturation and nonphysiological “on-off” patterns. This study showed for the first time that physiological neck muscle activations and cervical spine net joint moments can be estimated without assumed a priori objective criteria before impacts. Future studies could use this technique to provide detailed initial loading conditions for theoretical simulations of neck injury during impacts.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 10-10-2020
DOI: 10.3390/S20205749
Abstract: Wearable sensors and motion capture technology are accepted instruments to measure spatiotemporal variables during punching performance and to study the externally observable effects of fatigue. This study aimed to develop a computational framework enabling three-dimensional inverse dynamics analysis through the tracking of punching kinematics obtained from inertial measurement units and uniplanar videography. The framework was applied to six elite male boxers performing a boxing-specific punch fatigue protocol. OpenPose was used to label left side upper-limb landmarks from which sagittal plane kinematics were computed. Custom-made inertial measurement units were embedded into the boxing gloves, and three-dimensional punch accelerations were analyzed using statistical parametric mapping to evaluate the effects of both fatigue and laterality. Tracking simulations of a sub-set of left-handed punches were formulated as optimal control problems and converted to nonlinear programming problems for solution with a trapezoid collocation method. The laterality analysis revealed the dominant side fatigued more than the non-dominant, while tracking simulations revealed shoulder abduction and elevation moments increased across the fatigue protocol. In future, such advanced simulation and analysis could be performed in ecologically valid contexts, whereby multiple inertial measurement units and video cameras might be used to model a more complete set of dynamics.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Dario Cazzola.