The recently completed human motion analysis laboratory is designed to support a wide range of clinical and research oriented investigations. Clinically, it has been structured to serve total joint, foot and ankle, sports medicine, and pediatric patients for evaluation during gait and other activities.
Research applications include studies of surgical intervention, orthotic and prosthetic treatment, and therapy upon upper and lower extremity motion and control.
Motion abnormalities include complex alterations imposed by the skeletal and neuromuscular systems, as well as secondary adaptations that the patient makes in order to function. Identification of these patterns is extremely difficult, even for the trained clinician.
Motion analysis provides a frame-by-frame analysis of the three-dimensional joint motion, limb kinematics, kinetics, and muscular activity. While changes from activity patterns of age-matched normals are used to formulate a clinical treatment plan, research studies of pathological motion and muscular control patterns are designed to increase our understanding and ultimately our ability to improve future treatment.
The laboratory facilities include a Vicon multi-camera 3-D motion analysis system, DEC PDP-1123 data acquisition station (64 channel), DEC VAXStation 3100 computer, ten channel EMG telemetry system (surface and needle), and AMTI force plate.
