Functional Analysis of the Trunk Flexion-Extension Through Gaussian Functions Fitting of the Movement Profile

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cinzia Amici ◽  
Barbara Piovanelli ◽  
Federica Ragni ◽  
Raffaele Formicola ◽  
Valter Cappellini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Healthy Adult ◽  
Gaussian Function ◽  
Trunk Flexion ◽  
Optoelectronic System ◽  
Flexion Extension ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Optical Markers ◽  
Preliminary Description

Abstract A healthy mobility of the trunk plays a fundamental role in the activities of daily living. The flexion-extension movement is one of the main tasks evaluated in clinical practice to assess the functionality of the spine. Nevertheless, no fully shared methods are currently available for the clinician to perform quantitative evaluations on the movement quality. In this paper, the trunk flexion-extension task performed by 36 healthy adult subjects, for a total of 104 acquisitions, was acquired with an optoelectronic system of 8 cameras and 32 skin passive optical markers. The absolute displacement of the subject’s seventh thoracic vertebra (T7) was fitted with an asymmetric Gaussian function, comparing the performance of four alternative cost functions in the optimization process. A set of descriptive parameters for the quantitative evaluation of the profile, suitable for the everyday use in the clinical practice, was designed and applied on the current dataset. Statistical analysis was performed on residuals of the fitting process, coefficients of the optimal fitting functions and proposed descriptive parameters, outlining a preliminary description of the trunk flexion-extension movement in the healthy adult.

Role of implantable loop recorder in the clinical diagnosis of syncope: Results of the introduction of an effective diagnostic tool

2015 ◽  
Vol 156 (15) ◽  
pp. 609-613
Author(s):  
Miklós Somlói ◽  
Emil Toldy-Schedel ◽  
Zoltán Nényei ◽  
Róbert Böszörményi ◽  
János Tomcsányi
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Diagnostic Yield ◽  
Diagnostic Algorithm ◽  
Definitive Treatment ◽  
Implantable Loop Recorder ◽  
Everyday Clinical Practice ◽  
Loop Recorder ◽  
Early Application ◽  
Electrocardiographic Monitoring ◽  
The Everyday

Introduction: Extension of electrocardiographic monitoring via loop recorder implantation may increase the diagnostic yield of syncope work-up. Aim: In this retrospective observational study, the authors wanted to evaluate the diagnostic performance of implantable loop recorder in the everyday clinical practice. Method: The authors analyzed the electronically stored data of all patients who underwent loop recorder implantation between 2005 and 2014 in their cardiology department because of recurrent syncope of undetermined origin. Results: There were 52 loop recorder implantations within the study period. During the 167 (±136) days of monitoring, 36 (69.2%) diagnostic events occurred. In two-thirds of events, (46.2% of all monitored patients) a specific arrhythmia diagnosis was reached, allowing definitive treatment in these cases. In this selected population, there was no correlation between age, presence of known high-risk predictors, or accompanying trauma, and the mechanism of syncope. Conclusions: The high diagnostic rate of implantable loop recorder in the everyday clinical practice is in accordance with the findings in prospective clinical studies. This observation supports the early application of loop recorder in the diagnostic algorithm of syncope. Orv. Hetil., 2015, 156(15), 609–613.

Peak Torque Prediction Using Handgrip and Strength Predictors in Men and Women With Motor Complete Spinal Cord Injury

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-59
Author(s):  
Frederico Ribeiro Neto ◽  
Jefferson Rodrigues Dorneles ◽  
João Henrique Carneiro Leão Veloso ◽  
Carlos Wellington Gonçalves ◽  
Rodrigo Rodrigues Gomes Costa
Keyword(s):  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
Peak Torque ◽  
Shoulder Abduction ◽  
Trunk Flexion ◽  
Predictive Equations ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Flexion Extension ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Complete Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Hand Dynamometry

Objectives: To establish predictive equations for peak torque of muscle groups with totally and partially preserved innervation in individuals with motor complete spinal cord injury (SCI), based on hand dynamometry and strength predictor variables. Methods: The cross-sectional study conducted at a rehabilitation hospital consecutively recruited 108 men and women with SCI. All participants performed maximum peak torque tests for shoulder abduction/adduction (isokinetic), trunk flexion/extension (isometric), and handgrip strength testing (hand dynamometer) to establish predictive peak torque equations. The primary outcomes were peak torque variables. Handgrip strength, age, injury level, time since injury, age at injury, body mass, height, body mass index, and physical activity level were the secondary outcomes used as strength predictor variables. Results: Handgrip strength was a predictor variable for shoulder abduction/adduction peak torque. The best predictive models for shoulder abduction/adduction peak torque exhibited R2 = 0.57 and R2 = 0.60, respectively (p ≤ .05). Injury level showed the highest significant predictive capacity for trunk flexion/extension peak torque models (R2 = 0.38 and R2 = 0.29; p ≤ .05). Conclusion: Shoulder abduction/adduction peak torque predictive equations may be an alternative for use in an accessible strength tool (hand dynamometry) to evaluate training and rehabilitation programs. Trunk flexion/extension peak torque equations exhibited moderate correlations and high standard error of the estimates and should be used with caution.

scholarly journals Validation of Ankle Strength Measurements by Means of a Hand-Held Dynamometer in Adult Healthy Subjects

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Ancillao ◽  
Eduardo Palermo ◽  
Stefano Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Muscle Force ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Ankle Dorsiflexion ◽  
Force Measurements ◽  
Optoelectronic System ◽  
Clinical Routine ◽  
Strength Assessment ◽  
Ankle Strength

Uniaxial Hand-Held Dynamometer (HHD) is a low-cost device widely adopted in clinical practice to measure muscle force. HHD measurements depend on operator’s ability and joint movements. The aim of the work is to validate the use of a commercial HHD in both dorsiflexion and plantarflexion ankle strength measurements quantifying the effects of HHD misplacements and unwanted foot’s movements on the measurements. We used an optoelectronic system and a multicomponent load cell to quantify the sources of error in the manual assessment of the ankle strength due to both the operator’s ability to hold still the HHD and the transversal components of the exerted force that are usually neglected in clinical routine. Results showed that foot’s movements and angular misplacements of HHD on sagittal and horizontal planes were relevant sources of inaccuracy on the strength assessment. Moreover, ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion force measurements presented an inaccuracy less than 2% and higher than 10%, respectively. In conclusion, the manual use of a uniaxial HHD is not recommended for the assessment of ankle plantarflexion strength; on the contrary, it can be allowed asking the operator to pay strong attention to the HHD positioning in ankle dorsiflexion strength measurements.

scholarly journals DYSKIMOT: An ultra-low-cost inertial sensor to assess head’s rotational kinematics in adults during the Didren-Laser Test

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renaud Hage ◽  
Christine Detrembleur ◽  
Frédéric Dierick ◽  
Laurent Pitance ◽  
Laurent Jojczyk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Inertial Sensor ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Optoelectronic System ◽  
Qualitative Level ◽  
Cervical Motion ◽  
Head Rotations

Various noninvasive measurement devices can be used to assess cervical motion. Size, complexity and cost of gold-standard systems make them not suited in clinical practice, and actually difficult to use outside dedicated laboratory. Nowadays, ultra-low-cost inertial measurement units are available but without any packaging nor user-friendly interface. DYSKIMOT is a home- designed, small-sized, motion sensor based on the latter technology, aiming at being used by clinicians in “real-life situations”. In the present study. DYSKIMOT was compared with a gold- standard optoelectronic system (Elite). Our goal was to evaluate the accuracy of DYSKIMOT in assessing the kinematics in fast head rotations. Kinematics was simultaneously recorded by the DYSKIMOT and Elite systems during the execution of the DidRen Laser test and performed by 15 participants and 9 patients. Kinematic variables were computed from the position, speed and acceleration time series. Two-way ANOVA, Passing-Bablok regressions and Dynamic Time Warping analysis showed good to excellent agreement between Elite and DYSKIMOT, both at the qualitative level of the time series shape and at the quantitative level of peculiar kinematical events’ measured values. In conclusion, DYSKIMOT sensor is as relevant as a gold-standard system to assess kinematical features during fast head rotations in participants and patients, demonstrating its usefulness in clinical practice or research in ecological environment.

Neuromuscular efficiency of men with high and low spinal cord injury levels compared with non-disabled participants

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Frederico Ribeiro Neto ◽  
Rodrigo Rodrigues Gomes Costa ◽  
Ricardo Antônio Tanhoffer ◽  
Josevan Cerqueira Leal ◽  
Martim Bottaro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Latissimus Dorsi ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Shoulder Abduction ◽  
Trunk Flexion ◽  
Flexion Extension ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Trunk Extension

BACKGROUND: The neuromuscular efficiency index (NME) is defined as the individual ability to generate force in relation to the muscle activation level and might be useful to the assessment of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and might elucidate the modifications in strength after an SCI compared to non-disabled subjects (CG). OBJECTIVE: Verify if the NME of fully and partially preserved muscles discriminate men with low and high levels of SCI and a matched non-disabled CG. METHODS: Fifty-four men with SCI were stratified into the high (HP), and low (LP) paraplegia groups and twenty-seven non-disabled individuals were selected (CG). All subjects performed maximum strength tests in the isokinetic dynamometer for shoulder abduction/adduction (isokinetic) and trunk flexion/extension (isometric). Surface electromyography was measured to calculate the NME, and discriminant analysis was carried out to identify which NME variables would be able to discriminate HP, LP, and CG. RESULTS: There were no NME significant differences between groups for the primary muscles of the shoulder abduction/adduction. All NME data failed at discriminant tolerance test to compare HP from LP. The latissimus dorsi NME during trunk extension discriminated CG from HP and LP. CONCLUSIONS: The latissimus dorsi NME during trunk extension might be used as an assessment tool to compare SCI individuals and the non-disabled-matched controls. The authors recommend using the NME index for the analysis or comparisons between the same SCI levels.

scholarly journals Overcoming the Use of Mechanical Restraints in Psychiatry: A New Challenge in the Everyday Clinical Practice at the Time of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 3774
Author(s):  
Domenico De Berardis ◽  
Antonio Ventriglio ◽  
Michele Fornaro ◽  
Federica Vellante ◽  
Giovanni Martinotti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Everyday Clinical Practice ◽  
Mechanical Restraint ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Mechanical Restraints

Restraining interventions, which comprise physical (PR) and mechanical restraint (MR), have a long history in mental health services [...]

Development of a tool to facilitate real life activity retraining in hand and arm therapy

2017 ◽  
Vol 80 (5) ◽  
pp. 310-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanta Ohno ◽  
Kounosuke Tomori ◽  
Takashi Takebayashi ◽  
Tatsunori Sawada ◽  
Hirofumi Nagayama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Upper Extremity ◽  
Delphi Method ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Life Activity ◽  
Successful Recovery

Introduction Successful recovery of upper extremity function after stroke is more likely when the affected limb is used regularly in daily life. We developed an iPad (Apple) application called the ‘Aid for Decision-Making in Occupation Choice for Hand’ to facilitate daily upper extremity use. This study examined the suitability of items and pictures in the Aid for Decision-Making in Occupation Choice for Hand, and tested a paper prototype of the application (which has since been produced). Method We used a Delphi method with 10 expert occupational therapists to refine the items in the aid. Next, we prepared pictures of items in the aid and confirmed their suitability by testing them with 10 patients (seven stroke, three cervical spondylotic myelopathy). Nine occupational therapists conducted field tests with a paper prototype of the aid in clinical practice to examine its utility. Results After four Delphi rounds, we selected 130 items representing activities of daily living, organized into 16 categories. Of 130 pictures, 128 were recognizable to patients as representing the intended activities. Based on testing of the paper prototype, we found the Aid for Decision-Making in Occupation Choice for Hand process was suitable for clinical practice, and could be organized into six steps. Conclusion The Aid for Decision-Making in Occupation Choice for Hand process may promote daily upper extremity use. This application, since developed, now needs to be clinically tested in its digital form.

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