rehabilitation | Biomechanics in the Wild

Hip Hip Hooray: Joint Functionality Can Be Restored After Hip Labral Tear

Do you experience deep, sharp pain in your groin? Or a feeling of “catching” or “popping” in your hip joint as you go about your daily activities? Is your range of motion you once had now severely limited? If so, you could be experiencing symptoms of a hip acetabular labrum tear, an ever-increasing problem in society that fortunately, has effective treatments.

What’s Good in Robotic Post-Stroke Rehabilitation Therapy

As medicine progresses, the quality of life improves for everyone, resulting in more people living longer. Unfortunately, as a result of an increasing number of people living longer, the number of stroke victims has increased as well. A stroke is a disease that affects blood flow to and inside the brain, causing the loss of movement and control in parts of the body. This loss of control leaves stroke victims very dependent on relying on others to help live a normal life.

The Ultimate 2-for-1: the Power of Contralateral Strength Training

For the competitive athlete, injury often means loss. Loss of playing time, loss of skill development, and most importantly, loss of training time. These are all unfortunate consequence of getting a bone or tissue injury requiring a long-term healing prognosis. Injuries can be so devastating because the road to recovery is often times an arduous two-step process. First, the athlete must wait for their broken bones, torn ligaments, or pulled muscles to naturally heal. During this time, the athlete’s injured limb is likely immobilized in a cast or brace, leaving the resulting muscle to slowly atrophy as the body tries to heal itself. As a result, an athlete must spend the second part of their recovery process re-training the weakened muscles in the immobilized limb to return to full-strength. What if there was a way to heal and train the body at the same time? This is the power of a neurophysiological phenomenon known as “contralateral strength training.”

A Second Chance: Robotic Exoskeletons May Be the Future of Mobility for Patients with Spinal Cord Injuries

No one ever imagines themselves getting seriously injured. Accidents do happen though, like car crashes and unexpected sports injuries. These events can drastically change a person’s life, leaving them unable to perform simple daily tasks without assistance, such as walking. One injury that can radically impact a person’s life is a spinal cord injury. There are approximately a quarter of a million people in the United States with spinal cord injuries, and that number grows by 12,500 each year.

Oops I Did It Again: The Biomechanics Behind Repetitive Ankle Injuries

Ankle injuries – either sprains or fractures – are one of the most common sports traumas plaguing the US today. Sprains are overextensions or tears in ligaments. Fractures, on the other hand, are broken bones.

Soft Robotics: Humanizing the Mechanical

In media and science-fiction, robots have stereotypically, and perhaps somewhat unfairly, been depicted as mechanical, stiff assemblies of moving joints and complicated circuitry. While this still holds true for many robots designed today, whether for industry or research, the past few years have seen a growing interest in soft robotics in academia, industry, and popular culture. As the name implies, many research groups have begun investing in constructing robots from compliant, softer materials.

What is Tommy John surgery?

In July of 1974, Tommy John, pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, felt a twinge in his throwing arm, and could no longer pitch. Dr. Frank Jobe tried a new kind of surgery on John’s elbow, and after missing only one season, Tommy John returned to the mound in 1976 and continued pitching until 1989.

How?

Why do bone fractures take a long time for healing?

An athlete walking on crutches across the field - from The Washington Post — An athlete walking on crutches across the field – from The Washington Post

Have you observed that someone around you has broken their arms or legs? Bone fracture is a complete or incomplete break of bone continuity. And it is very common in our daily lives that there are more than 3 million cases in the U.S. per year. Many events may cause bone fractures, such as falls, car accidents or sports injuries. So, do you know how long it takes for the fracture to heal?

Put One Foot in Front of the Other? It’s Not that Easy

From Christmas movies to pop songs to motivational posters, we are encouraged to keep putting “one foot in front of the other.” While the sentiment is inspiring, recent studies show that there is a lot more to the seemingly simple task of walking than this phrase would suggest. Understanding this is especially important for balance and mobility after an injury or as people age.

Medical Marvel: Robotic exoskeletons enable those with spinal cord injury to walk again

A fall off of her horse in 2007 caused Claire Lomas to lose all function in her legs. In 2012, she completed the London Marathon, all 26.2 miles. Robotic exoskeletons can literally get people back on their feet shortly after a spinal cord injury occurs, but how exactly do these medical devices not only supplement but restore human performance? What does the future look like for robotic exoskeletons and those with paralysis?

Tag: rehabilitation