Postural and respiratory function of the abdominal muscles: A pilot study to measure abdominal wall activity using belt sensors

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The abdominal muscles play an important respiratory and stabilization role, and in coordination with other muscles regulate intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) to stabilize the spine. OBJECTIVE: To examine a new, non-invasive method to measure activation of the abdominal wall and compare changes in muscle activation during respiration while breathing under a load, and during instructed breathing. METHODS: Thirty-five healthy individuals completed this observational crossover study. Two capacitive force sensors registered the abdominal wall force during resting breathing stereotype, instructed breathing stereotype and under a load. RESULTS: Mean abdominal wall force increased significantly on both sensors when holding the load compared to resting breathing (Upper Sensor: P< 0.0005, d=-0.46, Lower Sensor: P< 0.0005, d=-0.56). The pressure on both sensors also significantly increased during instructed breathing compared to resting breathing (US: P< 0.0005, d=-0.76, LS: P< 0.0005, d=-0.78). CONCLUSIONS: The use of capacitive force-sensors represent a new, non-invasive method to measure abdominal wall activity. Clinically, belts with capacitive force sensors can be used as a feedback tool to train abdominal wall activation.

Effects of Eight Weeks of Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization Exercises on the Balance of Older Men

“…The results of our study regarding the improvement of balance in older adults are consistent with the results of other studies [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. The motor development of babies in the first year and up to the stage of walking, is done genetically and automatically [7].…”

Intra-abdominal pressure correlates with abdominal wall tension during clinical evaluation tests

“…Poor activation in these specific areas of the abdominal wall are commonly found in individuals with low back pain (LBP) (Frank et al, 2013;Kobesova et al, 2016). The same trunk sections were previously assessed by other researchers when evaluating abdominal wall activity in relation to IAP regulation (Kumar et al, 2012;Malátová et al, 2013;Novak et al, 2020). Therefore, the sensors are placed on the DNS Brace in the parts adhering to the abdominal wall above the inguinal ligaments and in the superior lumbar triangles.…”

“…Therefore, possible asymmetric tension of the abdominal could not be taken into account. The current version of the DNS Brace is not commercially available, but sensors working on a similar principle called Ohm Track (Novak et al, 2020) can be purchased and used in a similar way. DNS Brace cannot be applied to any participants with very narrow or extremely wide waistlines, therefore a different version of the DNS Brace is needed to increase the variability in testing individuals with different corset circumferences.…”

“…Available studies suggest that the AWT occurs as a result of increased IAP (Cresswell, 1993;Kumar et al, 2012;Tayebi et al, 2021;van Ramshorst et al, 2011). Different types of sensors have been used to measure the AWT during various postural tasks related to IAP changes (Chen et al, 2015;Malátová et al, 2013Malátová et al, , 2008Novak et al, 2020;van Ramshorst et al, 2011). This study presents simultaneous recording of IAP measured as anorectal pressure and AWT measured via four sensors attached to a trunk brace.…”