View clinical trials related to Biomechanical Phenomena.
Filter by:Patellar tendinopathy (PT) is an overuse injury associated with loading activities, and popular among basketball and volleyball players. Although altered biomechanical characteristics during landing has been suggested as one of the risk factors for the development of PT, previous evidence failed to show the link between the sagittal plane biomechanics of the hip and knee joint and PT; and little was known about the frontal and horizontal plane biomechanics in athletes with PT. While other factors such as motor control or muscle activation also have not been explored fully. The purpose of this study is to compare hip motor control and biomechanical characteristics of the hip and knee joint during landing in athletes with and without symptomatic PT.
Volleyball players repetitively place the arm into extreme positions, and thus expose the athletes' shoulders to a large load and increase the risk of injuries. The shoulder complex is identified as one of the most injured joints in volleyball sports. Although many studies have revealed alterations in the function, morphology and biomechanics of the shoulder complex in volleyball players with shoulder pain, some researchers suggested that a smooth energy transfer from the axial skeleton, through the shoulder complex, to the arm and hand is crucial for overhead sports performance and injury prevention, with little evidence showing the link between trunk muscle performance and shoulder pain in volleyball players. Therefore, the main purposes of present study are (1) to compare the trunk muscle performance (muscle strength, power and endurance) in volleyball players with and without subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS); (2) to compare trunk and shoulder muscles activity during spiking in volleyball players with and without SIS.
Hip motor control ability is an important parameter for preventing sport injuries in lower limbs, and the training of hip motor control can enhance the lower extremity movement performance. Previous studies have demonstrated the benefits of motor imagery with action observation (AOMI) on motor control and muscle strength improvements, which also revealed that AOMI combined with physical training (AOMI-PT) can lead to better outcomes than physical training (PT) alone. Besides, monitoring the neurophysiological changes of brain activation and the functional connection to the peripheral muscular activation after training helps to understanding the mechanisms on the training effects. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare (1) the cortical control mechanisms between 3 types of motor control training strategies; and (2) the effects of 3 types of motor control training on hip motor control performance in healthy subjects.
Lumbopelvic movement control is crucial for movement stability during weight loading training, and also an important risk factor for the occurrence and recurrence of low back pain (LBP). Previous studies indicated that athletes with LBP had poorer lumbopelvic movement control, and the deficits in lumbopelvic control could be remained after LBP remission. However, there has been no study investigating the effect of LBP history (LBPH) on the performance of the loaded squatting task, and lumbopelvic movement control in people who practice regular weight training. Therefore, the aims of this study are to examine the differences in lumbopelvic movement control, kinematics and muscle activation during the loaded squatting task in weight training practitioners with LBP, LBPH, and asymptomatic controls, to compare the cortical control mechanisms between 3 types of motor control training strategies, and to investigate the intervention effect of motor control training on restoring the lumbopelvic movement control and squatting performance.
Patellar tendinopathy (PT) is the common cause of anterior knee pain, particularly in sports required repeated jumping and landing, such as volleyball. PT clinically presents as anterior knee pain and localized tenderness at the patellar tendon. To evaluate the severity of symptoms of PT, the VISA-P questionnaire is a self-administered, well-validated, and widespread assessment tool. In the long term, athletes would land with knee avoidance patterns and transfer the load to the hip joint caused further hip-related injury. Lower extremities eccentric exercise has been proven the most beneficial treatment of PT. However, the course lasts for three to six months. For athletes who are still in season, it's difficult to get the immediate effect. A newly developed biomechanical taping, dynamic tape, considered to be beneficial for load absorption during muscle eccentric contraction during landing and further normalized the lower extremities load contribution by its viscoelasticity property. However, no past research has confirmed this effect. Therefore, the aims of the study are to translate the English VISA-P questionnaire to the Chinese and to study the reliability and validity of the Chinese version. In the next part, the investigators investigate the different landing biomechanics between individuals with and without patellar tendinopathy and establish the reliability of different landing tasks, and further explore whether the dynamic tape alters landing biomechanics in volleyball players.
Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is a collective term for pain and dysfunction of the masticatory muscles and temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Typical signs and symptoms of TMD includes regional pain, noises from the TMJs and limitations in jaw movements. Altered jaw kinematics and muscle activity have also been reported. TMD may be related to neck problems. Over 50% of patients with TMD suffer from nonspecific neck pain. Patients with TMD often have symptoms over neck, including upper cervical spine movement impairment and reduced cervical muscles endurance. Conversely, TMD may also develop in patients with neck pain. Twenty to thirty-three percent of patients with neck pain also have TMD. Subjects with neck pain present with a twofold higher prevalence of TMD than those without neck pain. In patients with neck pain, the development or perpetuation of TMD may be due to the anatomical connection between TMJ and neck: neck posture affects the mandible position and sensory inputs from the cervical-mandibular region converge at the trigemino-cervical nucleus. Early identification of TMD is essential but to our knowledge, no study has investigated whether patients with neck pain demonstrate altered jaw movement and muscle activity, which is associated with TMD. The purposes of this proposal are to compare the jaw kinematics, muscle activity and muscle sensitivity in healthy individuals and patients with non-specific chronic neck pain (NCNP). This study also aimed to investigate the relationship between forward-head posture and the jaw kinematics, muscle activity as well as muscle sensitivity. With a cross-sectional exploratory study design, 30 healthy control subjects and 30 subjects with NCNP will be recruited. Clinical assessments will include cervical range of motion (CROM), pressure pain threshold (PPT) over the cervical-mandibular region and the cranial-cervical angle (CCA). Jaw kinematics will be measured by Ultrasonic Jaw Motion Analyzer (Zebris GmbH) during functional jaw movements. Muscle activities are record from bilateral anterior temporalis, masseter, sternocleidomastoid muscle and upper trapezius by surface electromyography during resting and clenching.
Shoulder impingement syndrome is the most common shoulder disorder in overhead athletes. It describes a mechanical compression of subacromial bursa and rotator cuff tendons during arm movement, which results in pain and injuries. Most of previous studies focus on investigating motor performance in individuals with shoulder impingement syndrome and found altered scapular kinematics and muscle activation may contribute to the impingement. Recently few studies found changes in the central nervous system, decreases in corticospinal excitability and increases in inhibition in scapular muscles, by using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Although more studies are still needed to investigate the changes in central nervous system in the individuals with impingement syndrome, the changes in central nervous system are believed to be associated with the deficits of impingement syndrome. However, the exercise protocols for the impingement syndrome are usually designed to restore scapular kinematics and muscle activation, including scapular muscle strengthening exercise and scapular control exercise. To our knowledge, no study has investigated whether these exercise protocols can reverse these changes in the corticospinal system. The objectives of this proposal are to understand neuromuscular and neurophysiological mechanisms of the scapula-focused exercise protocols to improve the effectiveness of treatment. The study aims to investigate the effects of scapular muscle strengthening training and scapular control training on the scapular kinematics, muscle activation and corticospinal system. The study also aims to investigate whether any other cortical mechanisms are also affected by the shoulder impingement syndrome. We will recruit 70 overhead athletes with shoulder impingement syndrome and 22 healthy control athletes. Subjects with shoulder impingement syndrome will randomly receive either scapular muscle strengthening or scapular control training. When performing the exercise, subjects in the scapular control training group will receive electromyography feedback and cues but those in the strengthening training group will not. Immediate effects of these two training protocols on scapular kinematics, muscle activation, and neurophysiological measures will be tested before and after the training. Neurophysiological measures will be tested by TMS, including corticospinal excitability, cortical inhibition, intracortical inhibition, and intracortical facilitation.
The orthotics are auxiliary therapeutic resources indicated for the relief of pain, improves functional standard or correction of deformities. There is a lack of studies that analyze the biomechanical changes promoted by the Orthotics in functional pattern of the upper limb. The objective of this proposal is to analyse biomechanical changes in the functional upper limb pattern with the use of orthoses for patients with dysfunctions arising from musculoskeletal system trauma or burns, aiming to contribute with scientific evidence to clinical practice. The project will analyze the changes in the pattern of the upper limb functional through the use of dynamic and static Orthotics by means of kinematic and electromyographic analysis while conducting a functional task. These comparisons will be carried out with and without the use of functional Orthotics, and the controls are the patients themselves. Methods: 25 patients will be included over 18 years with malfunctions resulting from orthopaedic trauma and Burns of the upper limb with indication and Orthotics for improving functional pattern. For characterization of the sample will be performed: esthesiometric , hand and the (Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand) DASH Questionnaire. Biomechanical assessment will be used for the analysis and electromyographic kinematics. For statistical analysis will be applied the method of analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures, and when necessary, the post hoc Bonferroni test. Will be adopted as significance level p ≤ 0.05.