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NIH Funding (May 2016)

May 20, 2016

The Applied Biomechanics Laboratory and collaborators from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Virginia have been awarded a five-year NIH R01 award to study the role of age-related changes in tendon on motor performance. Dr. Franz’ lab will combine dynamic ultrasound imaging, quantitative motion capture, and biofeedback to investigate changes in localized Achilles tendon mechanics across the lifespan, as well as the effects on leg muscle contractile behavior and motor coordination during walking. Collaborators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will employ dynamic MRI and shear wave elastography to characterize triceps surae muscle-tendon architecture and elasticity, and both sites will contribute their imaging work to the development and validation of multi-scale computational models of 3D muscle and tendon tissue mechanics at the University of Virginia.

Abstracts Accepted (May 2016)

May 6, 2016

ASBThe Applied Biomechanics Laboratory is very excited to have had SIX research abstracts accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics this summer in Raleigh, NC! Congratulations to all of the students on this big accomplishment!!

 

List of ABL abstracts at the American Society of Biomechanics Meeting:

Browne MG and Franz JR, Biofeedback decouples the effects of speed and propulsive force on joint power generation in walking.

Francis CA, Franz JR, Acuna S, Thelen DG, Gait and balance training improves gait variability in old adults.

Rasske K, Thelen DG, Franz JR, Aging effects on the Achilles tendon moment arm in vivo during walking.

Franz JR, Francis CA, Allen MS, Thelen DG, Visuomotor entrainment and the control of balance in walking.

Stokes HE, Thompson JD, Franz JR, The association between kinematic variability and muscle activity during perturbed walking.

Thompson JD, Thelen DG, Franz JR, Does walking balance control adapt to perturbed optical flow?

 

 

New Funding (April 2016)

March 30, 2016

The Applied Biomechanics Laboratory was awarded a two year grant from the University Research Council titled “The role of propulsive capacity reserves in age-related mobility impairment.” We will collaborate on the project with the Drs. Pietrosimone and Ryan in the UNC Dept. of Exercise and Sports Science.

New Funding (March 2016)

March 30, 2016

Drs. Jason Franz, Caterina Gallippi and Xiaogang Hu have been awarded a seed grant from the UNC/NC State Rehabilitation Engineering Core to fund their new collaboration, which aims to enhance understanding of neurological, functional, and mechanical non-uniformity in muscle following stroke.

New Funding (March 2016)

March 30, 2016

The Applied Biomechanics Laboratory, in a collaboration spanning UNC and NC State, was awarded a one year seed grant from the UNC/NC State Rehabilitation Engineering Core titled “Electrocortical activity governing human balance control.” This work will be performed in collaboration with Prof. CS Nam from the NC State Dept. of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Paper Accepted (March 2016)

March 2, 2016

Our work integrating in vivo ultrasound imaging with musculoskeletal simulation to investigate muscle-tendon dynamics during walking has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Biomechanics. This work was performed in collaboration with Prof. Darryl Thelen at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Imaging and simulation of Achilles tendon dynamics: implications for walking performance in the elderly. 

Abstract. The Achilles tendon (AT) is a complex structure, consisting of distinct fascicle bundles arising from each triceps surae muscle that may act as mechanically independent structures. Advances in tissue imaging are rapidly accelerating our understanding of the complexities of functional Achilles tendon behavior, with potentially important implications for musculoskeletal injury and performance. In this overview of our recent contributions to these efforts, we present the results of complementary experimental and computational approaches to investigate AT behavior during walking and its potential relevance to reduced triceps surae mechanical performance due to aging. Our experimental evidence reveals that older tendons exhibit smaller differences in tissue deformations than young adults between regions of the AT presumed to arise from the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. These observations are consistent with a reduced capacity for inter-fascicle sliding within the AT, which could have implications for the mechanical independence of the triceps surae muscles. More uniform AT deformations are also correlated with hallmark biomechanical features of elderly gait – namely, a loss of net ankle moment, power, and positive work during push-off. Simulating age-related reductions in the capacity for inter-fascicle sliding in the AT during walking predicts detriments in gastrocnemius muscle-tendon mechanical performance coupled with underlying shifts in fascicle kinematics during push-off. AT compliance, also suspected to vary due to age, systematically modulates those effects. By integrating in vivo imaging with computational modeling, we have gained theoretical insight into multi-scale biomechanical changes due to aging, hypotheses regarding their functional effects, and opportunities for experiments that validate or invalidate these assertions.

Abstracts Accepted (February 2016)

March 2, 2016

Congratulations to Michael Browne and Jessica Thompson for having their abstracts accepted for presentation at the 2016 Human Movement Science & Biomechanics Symposium. Michael will present his work titled “Decoupling the independent effects of walking speed and propulsive force on joint power generation in walking” and Jessica will present her work titled “Does walking balance control adapt to perturbed optical flow?”

New Funding (January 2016)

March 2, 2016

Through an exciting collaboration with the Dept. of Exercise and Sports Science, the Applied Biomechanics Laboratory will assist in conducting a newly-funded, one year pilot project titled “Preventing knee osteoarthritis with a novel cartilage loading biofeedback intervention.”

New Funding (December 2015)

March 1, 2016

The Applied Biomechanics Laboratory was awarded a one year pilot grant from the North Carolina Translational & Clinical Sciences Institute titled “Visuomotor entrainment and the control of balance in elderly gait.” We will collaborate on the project with the UNC Dept. of Exercise and Sports Science and UNC Division of Physical Therapy.