MRI: Acquisition of a Force-measuring treadmill for biomedical experimentation and assistive device development

这一重大研究仪器奖将使工程师、临床科学家、人类学家和其他研究人员了解人们是如何行走和奔跑的。对人类行走和奔跑以及施加在身体上的相关力量的研究是解决基于解剖学的设计、伤害风险和预防、机器人开发和外骨骼设计等关键问题的核心。然而，对运动和力量进行协调和受控的研究是困难的。购买一台力感应跑步机将使弗吉尼亚理工大学和附近的学校，如爱德华·维维亚骨科医学院、弗吉尼亚理工大学卡利翁医学院和雷德福大学，能够收集这样的数据。与3D动作捕捉相结合，力感应跑步机将允许研究人员研究来自不同人群的人在多种情况下如何用腿产生力量。它将有助于在以下领域进行新的研究：(1)了解下半身肌肉骨骼损伤的原因；(2)了解由于下半身残疾或损伤而导致的行走和跑步的变化；(3)开发诊断和治疗算法，以监测和评估患者在下半身损伤和/或手术后的功能；以及(4)了解外骨骼、反馈和运动再培训如何成功地恢复伤者并改善残疾人的行动能力。由于跑步机而开展的研究项目和开发的干预措施将改善运动障碍的预防、诊断和治疗。该小组的目标是描述不同运动条件下运动和负荷的不对称性以及能量交换的特征，以开发恢复正常运动的干预措施。一个主要目标是确定在不同人群中一致的代偿性运动模式，并开发在没有力量感应跑步机的情况下识别这些代偿性运动的方法。这些见解还将被用于开发和评估新型低功率、主动软矫形器，作为一种改善步态机制和最大限度减少疼痛的手段。外骨骼也将被开发，以提供更多的能力和促进体力活动。跑步机将被用来在广泛的活动中收集相关的生物信号，并将结果与神经肌肉和动力学模型结合起来。最后，跑步机将允许收集关于脚部负荷的数据，这些数据将阐明脚部形状和力学如何影响负荷模式，并最终导致应力性骨折。该项目得到了工程局土木工程、机械和制造业创新以及化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统司的支持。

This Major Research Instrumentation award will enable engineers, clinical scientists, anthropologists, and other researchers to gain an understanding of how people walk and run. Studies of human walking and running and the associated forces that are placed on the body are central to solving critical problems in anatomically based design, injury risk and prevention, robotics development, and exoskeleton design. Yet coordinated and controlled studies of movement and forces are difficult. The purchase of a force-sensing treadmill will make such data collection possible at Virginia Tech and nearby schools such as the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Radford University. In conjunction with 3-D motion capture, the force-sensing treadmill will allow researchers to study how people from many populations produce force and power with their legs under multiple situations. It will allow for new studies in the following areas: (1) understanding the causes of lower-body musculoskeletal injury, (2) understanding changes in walking and running that result from lower-body disability or injury, (3) developing diagnostic and treatment algorithms to monitor and assess patient function following lower body injury and/or surgery, and (4) understanding how exoskeletons, feedback, and movement retraining can successfully rehabilitate the injured and improve mobility in the disabled. The research projects undertaken and interventions developed as a result of the treadmill will improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of movement disorders. The team aims to characterize movement and loading asymmetry as well as energy exchange during various movement conditions in order to develop interventions to restore normal locomotion. A major goal is to identify compensatory movement patterns that are consistent across different populations, and develop ways of identifying these compensations in settings without a force-sensing treadmill. These insights will also be used to develop and evaluate novel low-power, active soft orthotics as a means of improving gait mechanics and minimizing pain. Exoskeletons will also be developed to provide increased capability and promote physical activity. The treadmill will be used to collect relevant biological signals during a wide range of activities, and combine the result with both neuromuscular and dynamics models. Finally, the treadmill will allow data collection on foot loading that will illuminate how foot shape and mechanics influence loading patterns and ultimately stress fractures. This project was supported by the Divisions of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation and Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems in the Directorate for Engineering.