Mechanography—A New Device for the Assessment of Muscle Function in Pediatrics

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The development of the musculoskeletal system in children and adolescents became an important topic in the field of pediatric research when the connections between muscle force and bone diseases were revealed. The present study focused on reference values of ground reaction forces, which derive from muscle forces of the lower limbs. Specifically, the study investigated the relationship between anthropometric characteristics and peak jump force (PJF), and peak jump power (PJP). The parameters were assessed by jumping mechanography using the Leonardo Jumping Platform. The entire study group was comprised of 135 school boys (ages 7-21 y) and 177 girls (ages 6 -19 y), who were enrolled in a German primary school and a German high school. The analysis of the parameters revealed that forces deriving from the motor performance of jumping follow an exponential relationship to body size parameters. Therefore, with consideration of anthropometric characteristics, the assessment of ground reaction forces might provide a novel, inexpensive, and accurate approach for the assessment motor performance in children and adolescents.

Effect of Post-Natal Catch-Down and Feeding Practices on Auxology, Body Composition and Muscle Function in Children Born Large-For-Gestational-Age

“…MIGF was measured with a hand-held Jamar hydraulic dynamometer. Ground reaction forces were measured by use of the Leonardo Platform® (NovotecGmbH, Pforzheim, Germany) as has described elsewhere [13,20]. Motor function was analyzed by goal-directed two-leg jumping.…”

“…The jump was performed as a counter movement jump and the aim was to jump as high as possible. Three jumps were performed and the one with the highest jump was used for further calculations [13].…”

“…From studies in small-for-gestational-age children it is known that catch-up growth is associated with an increased risk for obesity and metabolic disturbances later in life [4]. Therefore it was assumed that a "mirroring" effect could be observed in LGA infants in which those LGA with the most pronounced catch-down growth might be protected from metabolic disturbances [13] which are associate with LGA birth parameters in general [9]. Taal et al [11] showed that subjects born LGA without catch-down growth had more subcutaneous fat mass (central and peripheral) and had higher BMI.…”

“…Muscle function can be reliable assessed by mechanography. Fricke et al [13] have shown that jumping force and grip force are both reliable measurements to analyze muscle function. Jumping force as a multi-joint motor movement completes the analysis of grip force as a one joint motor function.…”

Mechanical influences on bone development in children

“…Actually, we are standing at the beginning of understanding key principles in the clinical analysis of the muscular function by the use of physical parameters as velocity, acceleration, force, energy, and power. Recently, mechanographic analyses of jumping and chair-rising were introduced in the diagnostic repertoire of the pediatric osteologist (25). Actually, we have many open questions in pediatric biomechanics.…”