Effect of prolonged walking on concrete on the knees of sheep
Abstract
Adult sheep were subjected to prolonged activity on hard surfaces by walking them daily on concrete and housing them on tarmac. Control sheep were walked on compliant wood chip surfaces and pastured. After two and a half years significant changes were seen in both the distal femoral articular cartilage and subchondral trabecular bone of the knee joints of the hard surface walkers. The hexosamine content of the articular cartilage in the hard surface walkers was lower and this decrease was more marked in the weight-bearing than in the non-weight-bearing areas of the knee. The trabecular pattern of the subchondral bone became significantly altered, with a marked change in trabecular structure acting to stiffen the tibio-femoral joint at the expense of the patello-femoral articulation. There was a substantial increase in the contiguity ratio of bone in the tibio-femoral area. The cortical thickness of the subchondral plate was increased in both the tibio-femoral and patello-femoral areas. We concluded that significant changes occur in both cartilage and bone as a result of prolonged walking on hard surfaces.
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Trabecular bone volume fraction in Holocene and Late Pleistocene humans
2024, Journal of Human EvolutionResearch suggests that recent modern humans have gracile skeletons in having low trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and that gracilization of the skeleton occurred in the last 10,000 years. This has been attributed to a reduction in physical activity in the Holocene. However, there has been no thorough sampling of BV/TV in Pleistocene humans due to limited access to high resolution images of fossil specimens. Therefore, our study investigates the gracilization of BV/TV in Late Pleistocene humans and recent (Holocene) modern humans to improve our understanding of the emergence of gracility. We used microcomputed tomography to measure BV/TV in the femora, humeri and metacarpals of a sample of Late Pleistocene humans from Dolní Věstonice (Czech Republic, ∼26 ka, n = 6) and Ohalo II (Israel, ∼19 ka, n = 1), and a sample of recent humans including farming groups (n = 39) and hunter-gatherers (n = 6). We predicted that 1) Late Pleistocene humans would exhibit greater femoral and humeral head BV/TV compared with recent humans and 2) among recent humans, metacarpal head BV/TV would be greater in hunter-gatherers compared with farmers. Late Pleistocene humans had higher BV/TV compared with recent humans in both the femur and humerus, supporting our first prediction, and consistent with previous findings that Late Pleistocene humans are robust as compared to recent humans. However, among recent humans, there was no significant difference in BV/TV in the metacarpals between the two subsistence groups. The results highlight the similarity in BV/TV in the hand of two human groups from different geographic locales and subsistence patterns and raise questions about assumptions of activity levels in archaeological populations and their relationships to trabecular BV/TV.
The “impacts cause injury” hypothesis: Running in circles or making new strides?
2023, Journal of BiomechanicsSome of the earliest biomechanics research focused on running and the ground reaction forces generated with each step. Research in running gait accelerated in the 1970′s as the growing popularity in running increased attention to the musculoskeletal injuries sustained by runners. Despite decades of high-quality research, running remains the most common cause of exercise-related musculoskeletal injuries and rates of overuse running-related injuries (RRI) have not appreciably declined since the research began. One leading area of running gait research focuses on discrete variables derived from the vertical ground reaction force, such as the vertical loading rate. Across sub-disciplines of running gait research, vertical loading rate is often discussed as the primary and undisputed variable associated with RRI despite only low to moderate evidence that retrospectively or prospectively injured runners generate greater vertical loading rates than uninjured counterparts. The central thesis of this review is that relying on vertical loading rate is insufficient to establish causal mechanisms for RRI etiology. To present this argument, this review examines the history of the ‘impacts cause injury’ hypothesis, including a historical look at ground reaction forces in human running and the research from which this hypothesis was generated. Additionally, a synthesis of studies that have tested the hypothesis is provided and recommendations for future research are discussed. Although it is premature to reject or support the ‘impacts cause injury’ hypothesis, new knowledge of biomechanical risk factors for RRI will remain concealed until research departs from the current path or adopts new approaches to previous paradigms.
TwAS: Treadmill with adjustable surface stiffness
2021, Soft Robotics in RehabilitationIn biomechanics of human locomotion, the physical properties of the walking surface are important factors that can affect the kinematics and dynamics as well as the energy requirement of the locomotion. Softness of the surface is a critical factor when it comes to rehabilitation applications for mobility impaired patients. Many poststroke patients are prescribed to walk on a compliant surface such as foam walkways to better prepared them for the real-world scenarios such as walking on grass, mud, etc. However, and while the softness of foam walkways is not adjustable, the best level of surface stiffness differs from one patient to another, and even for one individual patient the best level of surface stiffness changes as the rehabilitation process progresses. Furthermore, during the initial stages of rehabilitation for mobility impaired patients, partially canceling the weight is another important factor as many of these patients are not able to support their own weight during walking. This chapter presents a novel dual belt Treadmill with Adjustable Stiffness (TwAS) where speed and surface stiffness of each belt can be independently adjusted based on what is best for a particular user. In addition, the TwAS treadmill is integrated with the following systems: a weight cancelation hydraulically actuated harness system LiteGait, motion capture system with eight Vicon cameras, and a ParvoMedics VO2max metabolic cost measurement system. With this integrated system, a mobility impaired patient can walk at different speeds, on different surface stiffness levels while the walking kinematics can be tracked by the motion capture system and the energy expenditure can be measured by the VO2max system. Furthermore, using the model-based surface stiffness level together with the tracked surface deflection using the motion capture system, the ground reaction force can be calculated which can be used to understand the joints’ torques through inverse dynamic approaches. This system can provide a unique rehabilitation and evaluation platform for the therapist as it can provide real-time data on the performance of mobility impaired patients. This system is also a valuable tool for rehabilitation of injured athletes.
Foot trajectories and loading rates in a transfemoral amputee for six different commercial prosthetic knees: An indication of adaptability
2019, Medical Engineering and PhysicsThe relationship between the functional loading rate and heel velocities was assessed in an active unilateral transfemoral amputee (UTFA) for adaptation to six different commercial prosthetic knees.
To Investigate the short-term process of adaptability for UTFA for two types of prosthetic knees were evaluated, based on the correlation between heel vertical velocity and transient loading rate.
The loading rate was calculated from the slope of ground reaction forces (GRF) and the corresponding time. The heel velocities and GRF were obtained by a motion analysis system.
Biomechanical adaptation was evident following a short period of prosthetic knee use based upon the mean transient impact (loading rate) and the heel vertical velocity in slow, normal and fast walking. Trend lines of transient impact versus vertical heel velocity for a set of actively controlled variable damping (microprocessor) and mechanically passive prosthetic knees were all negatively correlated, except for an amputated leg during normal pace and healthy leg during fast pace. For an amputee to adapt well to a prescribed prosthesis excellent coordination between the intact and amputated limbs is required to control placement of the amputated leg to achieve a gait comparable to healthy subjects.
There are many factors such as the hip, knee flexion/extension and the ankle plantarflexion/dorsiflexion contributing to the control of the transient impact of an amputee during walking. Therefore, for enhanced control of a prosthetic knee, a multifaceted approach is required. This study showed that UTFA adaption to different prosthetic knees in the short term with slower than self-selected speed is completely achievable based on the negative correlation of ground reaction forces versus linear velocity. Reduced speed may provide the prosthetists with the vision of the amputees’ progression of adaptation with a newly prescribed prosthetic knee.
Articular scaling and body mass estimation in platyrrhines and catarrhines: Modern variation and application to fossil anthropoids
2018, Journal of Human EvolutionBody mass is an important component of any paleobiological reconstruction. Reliable skeletal dimensions for making estimates are desirable but extant primate reference samples with known body masses are rare. We estimated body mass in a sample of extinct platyrrhines and Fayum anthropoids based on four measurements of the articular surfaces of the humerus and femur. Estimates were based on a large extant reference sample of wild-collected individuals with associated body masses, including previously published and new data from extant platyrrhines, cercopithecoids, and hominoids. In general, scaling of joint dimensions is positively allometric relative to expectations of geometric isometry, but negatively allometric relative to expectations of maintaining equivalent joint surface areas. Body mass prediction equations based on articular breadths are reasonably precise, with %SEEs of 17–25%. The breadth of the distal femoral articulation yields the most reliable estimates of body mass because it scales similarly in all major anthropoid taxa. Other joints scale differently in different taxa; therefore, locomotor style and phylogenetic affinity must be considered when calculating body mass estimates from the proximal femur, proximal humerus, and distal humerus. The body mass prediction equations were applied to 36 Old World and New World fossil anthropoid specimens representing 11 taxa, plus two Haitian specimens of uncertain taxonomic affinity. Among the extinct platyrrhines studied, only Cebupithecia is similar to large, extant platyrrhines in having large humeral (especially distal) joints. Our body mass estimates differ from each other and from published estimates based on teeth in ways that reflect known differences in relative sizes of the joints and teeth. We prefer body mass estimators that are biomechanically linked to weight-bearing, and especially those that are relatively insensitive to differences in locomotor style and phylogenetic history. Whenever possible, extant reference samples should be chosen to match target fossils in joint proportionality.
Surface effects on dynamic stability and loading during outdoor running using wireless trunk accelerometry
2016, Gait and PostureDespite frequently declared benefits of using wireless accelerometers to assess running gait in real-world settings, available research is limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate outdoor surface effects on dynamic stability and dynamic loading during running using tri-axial trunk accelerometry. Twenty eight runners (11 highly-trained, 17 recreational) performed outdoor running on three outdoor training surfaces (concrete road, synthetic track and woodchip trail) at self-selected comfortable running speeds. Dynamic postural stability (tri-axial acceleration root mean square (RMS) ratio, step and stride regularity, sample entropy), dynamic loading (impact and breaking peak amplitudes and median frequencies), as well as spatio-temporal running gait measures (step frequency, stance time) were derived from trunk accelerations sampled at 1024 Hz. Results from generalized estimating equations (GEE) analysis showed that compared to concrete road, woodchip trail had several significant effects on dynamic stability (higher AP ratio of acceleration RMS, lower ML inter-step and inter-stride regularity), on dynamic loading (downward shift in vertical and AP median frequency), and reduced step frequency (p < 0.05). Surface effects were unaffected when both running level and running speed were added as potential confounders. Results suggest that woodchip trails disrupt aspects of dynamic stability and loading that are detectable using a single trunk accelerometer. These results provide further insight into how runners adapt their locomotor biomechanics on outdoor surfaces in situ.