Force sensing glove for quantification of joint torques during stretching after spinal cord injury in the rat model.

Abstract

Seibt, Erik, "Force sensing glove for quantification of joint torques during stretching after spinal cord injury in the rat model." (2013 Instruments' LabVIEW program, the device was able to accurately measure forces, and eventually torques, applied during stretching. This study sought to explain what range of torques were being applied during stretching after SCI in the rat model in the hopes of understanding how to administer safe, effective therapeutic stretches. Six adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were mildly contused at T9 using the NYU impactor device with a 12.5 g-cm weight drop. n=2 rats were stretched 2 days per week and n=2 rats were v stretched once per week using an eight minute protocol, for the first 5 weeks post-injury while controls (n=2) received no stretch therapy. Briefly, the tibialis anterior (TA) and triceps surae (TS) muscle groups were stretched by two therapists bilaterally for a minute each, totaling 4 minutes of stretch per rat per day. Kinematic assessments of stretching were accompanied by force measurement data and were used to generate comparisons between therapeutic torque and end range of motion (ROM) of the ankle. The data suggests that both once and twice per week stretching regimens were not enough to inhibit locomotor recovery or elicit a noticeable change in end ROM in such a mild injury model. There were noticeable differences in torques applied during stretching by different therapists, confirming the findings of previous studies. More importantly, the data showed that immediately after injury the normal end ROM can be achieved by applying less torque. The torque necessary to reach the end ROM increases to baseline values by week 5, potentially due to a return of the stretch reflex during spinal shock. This study urges other aspects of stretching therapy to be considered and suggests a tool for therapists to quantitatively apply safe and consistent stretching therapies to patients.vi

Joint Moment Responses to Different Modes of Augmented Visual Feedback of Joint Kinematics during Two-Legged Squat Training

“…Future studies could also address limitations in our protocol by using high-resolution force plates and more complete marker sets designed and calibrated for 3-D anatomical assessment of lower-extremity joint mechanics [79,80]. However, our simplified measures and analyses for joint moments were on par with similar studies for various applications [81][82][83] and, more importantly, were consistent with the visual feedback provided in this study, i.e., three-segment stick figure motions projected onto the sagittal plane. Furthermore, the measurement resolution of our methods did not prevent the identification of significant differences in computed joint moments based on visual feedback features, i.e., the study's primary goal.…”