Wearable Shear Wave Tensiometry for Tracking Tendon Load during Dynamic Movement

项目摘要 该项目的长期目标是开发一种无线可穿戴系统，以估计 在动态运动中腿部肌腱的张力。肌腱张力提供了一个估计 肌肉力量，这是了解生物力学行为的重要信息， 这是一种运动，尽管以前很难衡量。最近的进展已经 示出了安装在皮肤上的加速度计可以跟踪剪切波沿着 在通过在肌腱上的轻微机械敲击引起波之后，的速度 波的传播取决于钢筋束中的张力，因此测量波的速度提供了 测量钢筋束张力。 拟议中的项目将建立和测试一个可穿戴系统，使这些肌腱张力 在自由活动期间进行测量。这些测量有望使新的方法， 损伤评估、康复、运动训练和肌肉骨骼疾病的治疗。 本研究将调查一个移动的系统的能力，使测量相匹配 实验室系统的质量，以及钢筋束张力测量的能力， 深入了解日常环境中运动过程中的生物力学。 该项目的具体目标是： 1.设计、构建和验证可穿戴系统，用于通过以下方式测量肌腱张力： 剪切波在钢筋束中传播速度的测量。 2.研究可穿戴肌腱张力测量的实用性， 生物力学功能在现实世界中的活动。

Project Summary The long-term goal of this project is to develop a wireless, wearable system to estimate the tension in tendons of the legs during dynamic movements. Tendon tension provides an estimate of muscle force, which is important information for understanding biomechanical behavior in all types of movement, though it has previously been difficult to measure. Recent advances have shown that skin-mounted accelerometers can track the propagation of shear waves along a tendon, after the waves are induced by a light mechanical tap on the tendon. The speed of wave propagation depends on the tension in the tendon, so measuring wave speed provides a measurement of tendon tension. The proposed project will build and test a wearable system to make these tendon tension measurements during free movement. These measurements promise to enable new methods of injury assessment, rehabilitation, athletic training, and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. This research will investigate the ability of a mobile system to make measurements that match the quality of laboratory systems, and the ability of tendon tension measurements to provide insight into biomechanics during movement in everyday environments. The Specific Aims of this project are to: 1. To design, build, and validate a wearable system for measuring tendon tension through measurements of shear wave propagation speed in tendon. 2. To investigate the utility of wearable tendon tension measurements for assessing biomechanical function during real-world activities.