biomechanical risk

Penn State University is developing a pediatric total artificial heart (pTAH) as a bridge-to-transplant device that supports infants and small children with single ventricle anomalies or biventricular heart failure to address high waitlist mortality rates for patients with severe congenital heart disease. Two issues with mechanical circulatory support devices are thrombus formation and thromboembolic events. This in vitro study characterizes flow within Penn State's pTAH under physiological operating conditions...

Ballistic shields protect users from a variety of threats, including projectiles. Shield back-face deformation (BFD) is the result of the shield deflecting or absorbing a projectile and deforming towards the user. Back-face deformation can result in localized blunt loading to the upper extremity, where the shield is supported by the user. Two vulnerable locations along the upper extremity were investigated - the wrist and elbow - on eight post-mortem human subjects (PMHS) using a pneumatic impacting apparatus for investigating the fracture threshold as a result of behind shield blunt trauma (BSBT)...

The aim of this study was to analyze lower leg muscle forces during strength exercises such as back squats, good mornings and split squats, with a particular emphasis on females. By focusing on females, who are more vulnerable to anterior cruciate ligament injuries, we aimed to better understand muscle engagement and its role in injury prevention. Eight participants were monitored during exercises with a barbell load of 25% of body weight and, during the back squat, an additional 50% load. The analysis was conducted using personalized musculoskeletal models, electromyography (EMG) and Vicon motion capture systems to assess various muscle groups, including the m...

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to screen for musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) complaints, to analyse the activity and to identify their risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional epidemiological study involved 903 men aged > 20 years and with a seniority > 2 years. It included a questionnaire and an ergonomic analysis of the activity. The questionnaire included: socio-demographic and occupational characteristics, health status and life habits, stress and items from the Nordic questionnaire...

Wearable inertial measurement units (IMUs) are used increasingly to estimate biomechanical exposures in lifting-lowering tasks. The objective of the study was to develop and evaluate predictive models for estimating relative hand loads and two other critical biomechanical exposures to gain a comprehensive understanding of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in lifting. We collected 12,480 lifting-lowering phases from 26 subjects (15 men and 11 women) performing manual lifting-lowering tasks with hand loads (0-22...

This systematic review, registered with Prospero, aims to identify an optimal animal model for meniscus repair research, moving from ex vivo experimentation to in vivo studies. Data sources included PubMed, Medline, all Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews, Web of Science, and Embase searched in March 2023. Studies were screened using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Extracted data including animal model, type of experiment, type of tear, surgical techniques, and measured outcomes, were recorded, reviewed, and analyzed by four independent reviewers...

PURPOSE: Under-foot impact loadings can cause serious lower limb injuries in many activities, such as automobile collisions and underbody explosions to military vehicles. The present study aims to compare the biomechanical responses of the mainstream vehicle occupant dummies with the human body lower limb model and analyze their robustness and applicability for assessing lower limb injury risk in under-foot impact loading environments. METHODS: The Hybrid III model, the test device for human occupant restraint (THOR) model, and a hybrid human body model with the human active lower limb model were adopted for under-foot impact analysis regarding different impact velocities and initial lower limb postures...

Individuals with unilateral transtibial amputation (TTA) using socket prostheses demonstrate asymmetric joint biomechanics during walking, which increases the risk of secondary comorbidities (e.g., low back pain (LBP), osteoarthritis (OA)). Bone-anchored limbs are an alternative to socket prostheses, yet it remains unknown how they influence multi-joint loading. Our objective was to determine the influence of bone-anchored limb use on multi-joint biomechanics during walking. Motion capture data (kinematics, ground reaction forces) were collected during overground walking from ten participants with unilateral TTA prior to (using socket prostheses) and 12-months after bone-anchored limb implantation...

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Studies have shown biomechanical superiority of cervical pedicle screw placement over other techniques. However, accurate placement is challenging due to the inherent risk of neurovascular complications. Navigation technology based on intraoperative 3D imaging allows highly accurate screw placement, yet studies specifically investigating screw placement in patients with traumatic atlantoaxial injuries are scarce. The aim of this study was to compare atlantoaxial screw placement as treatment of traumatic instabilities using iCT-based navigation or fluoroscopic-guidance with intraoperative 3D control scans...

OBJECTIVE: Biomechanical modeling of infrarenal aortic aneurysms seeks to predict ruptures in advance, thereby reducing aneurysm-related deaths. As individual methods focusing on strain and stress analysis lack adequate discretization power, this study aims to explore multifactorial characterization for progressive aneurysmal degeneration. The study's objective is to compare stress- and strain-related parameters in infrarenal aortic aneurysms. METHODS: Twenty-two patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) (mean maximum diameter, 53...

CONTEXT: Lower extremity joint (LE) kinematics during landing tasks are important predictors of injury risk and performance outcomes in athletes. OBJECTIVE: To establish sex-related differences and normative ranges for LE kinematics during the jump-landing task in a large cohort of healthy military service academy cadets. DESIGN: Cross-Sectional Study. SETTING: US Air Force, Naval, and Military Academies. PARTICIPANTS: 5308 cadets (2062 females [38...

Whole-body angular momentum (WBAM) represents the cancellations of angular momenta that are produced during a reciprocal gait pattern. WBAM is sensitive to small changes and is used to compare dynamic gait patterns under different walking conditions. Study designs and the normalization techniques used to define WBAM vary and make comparisons between studies difficult. To address this problem, WBAM about each anatomical axis of rotation from a healthy control population during normal gait were investigated within four metrics: 1) range of WBAM, 2) integrated WBAM, 3) statistical parametric mapping (SPM), and 4) principal component analysis (PCA)...

OBJECTIVE: Jaywalking is an important cause of pedestrian-related automobile accidents. Exploring the factors that influence jaywalking behavior and suggesting appropriate improvement measures are critical for reducing automobile accidents involving pedestrians. METHODS: This study divided traffic situations into high-risk and low-risk situations. Each situation contained three visual attention cues: vehicle, traffic light, and group behavior. Based on this, the role of visual cues in guiding pedestrians' attention and influencing their decisions during jaywalking was examined...

The cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the dangerous disease in the world. Most of the people around the world are affected by this dangerous CVD. In under-developed countries, the prediction of CVD remains the toughest job and it takes more time and cost. Diagnosing this illness is an intricate task that has to be performed precisely to save the life span of the human. In this research, an advanced deep model-based CVD prediction and risk analysis framework is proposed to minimize the death rate of humans all around the world...

The elderly population is growing rapidly in the world and falls are becoming a big problem for society. Currently, clinical assessments of gait and posture include functional evaluations, objective, and subjective scales. They are considered the gold standard to indicate optimal mobility and performance individually, but their sensitivity and specificity are not good enough to predict who is at higher risk of falling. An innovative approach for fall prediction is the machine learning. Machine learning is a computer-science area that uses statistics and optimization methods in a large amount of data to make outcome predictions...

PURPOSE: There remains a need for improved imaging markers for risk stratification and treatment guidance in Marfan syndrome (MFS). After aortic root replacement (ARR), vascular remodeling and progressive aneurysm formation can occur due to alterations in up- and downstream wall biomechanics and hemodynamics. We aim to compare the ventriculo-vascular properties of patients with MFS with controls, and investigate the correlation between ascending aortic area strain and descending aortic area strain (DAAS) with other clinical variables...

OBJECTIVE: Many children with physical disabilities need additional postural support when sitting and supplementary padding is used on standards approved child restraints to achieve this when traveling in a motor vehicle. However, the effect of this padding on crash protection for a child is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effect of additional padding for postural support on crash protection for child occupants in forward facing child restraints. METHODS: Forty frontal sled tests at 49 km/h were conducted to compare Q1 anthropometric test device (ATD) responses in a forward-facing restraint, with and without additional padding in locations to increase recline of the restraint, and/or support the head, trunk and pelvis...

Shoulder injuries are common in baseball pitchers and primarily involve the glenohumeral joint. Past analyses have examined shoulder biomechanics during different pitch types simply as the motion of the upper arm relative to the thorax. In this study, glenohumeral and scapulothoracic kinematics were compared between fastballs and curveballs at key timepoints throughout a pitch. Upper extremity kinematics of thirteen collegiate pitchers were collected during fastball and curveball pitches with motion capture...

Introduction: The demipointe dance position puts the ankle at high risk of overuse injury and posteromedial ankle pain due to increased ankle valgus forces. Previous work has shown that creating lower limb external rotation intrinsic to demipointe with hip external rotation reduces foot pronation that causes ankle valgus stress. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to examine long axis rotation kinematics of the hip, knee, and ankle as well as the ankle joint contact forces in demipointe to better understand the biomechanical impact(s) of the specific cue to increase hip external rotation in this position...

BACKGROUND: Locking plates are commonly used for the fixation of comminuted, periprosthetic and osteoporotic bone fractures. These plates are secured to the bone with screws, creating a stable connection with fixed angle between the plate and the screws. In this biomechanical in vitro study, our aim is to evaluate and compare the novel locking plate-locking spongious screw model with FDA approved classical locking plate. METHODS: Sawbone PCF-15 osteoporotic bone model was utilized to simulate osteoporotic bone conditions...