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Quantitative assessment of movement using motion capture provides insights on mobility which are not evident from clinical evaluation. Here, in older individuals that were healthy or had suffered a stroke, we aimed to investigate their balance in terms of changes in body kinematics and muscle activity. Our research question involved determining the effects on post- compared to pre-sensorimotor training exercises on maintaining or improving balance. Our research hypothesis was that training would improve the gait and balance by increasing joint angles and extensor muscle activities in lower extremities and spatiotemporal measures of stroke and elderly people. This manuscript describes a motion capture-based evaluation protocol to assess joint angles and spatiotemporal parameters (cadence, step length and walking speed), as well as major extensor and flexor muscle activities. We also conducted a case study on a healthy older participant (male, age, 65) and an older participant with chronic stroke (female, age, 55). Both participants performed a walking task along a path with a rectangular shape which included tandem walking forward, right side stepping, tandem walking backward, left side stepping to the starting location. For the stroke participant, the training improved the task completion time by 19 s. Her impaired left leg had improved step length (by 0.197 m) and cadence (by 10 steps/min) when walking forward, and cadence (by 12 steps/min) when walking backward. The non-impaired right leg improved cadence when walking forward (by 15 steps/min) and backward (by 27 steps/min). The joint range of motion (ROM) did not change in most cases. However, the ROM of the hip joint increased significantly by 5.8 degrees (p = 0.019) on the left leg side whereas the ROMs of hip joint and knee joint increased significantly by 4.1 degrees (p = 0.046) and 8.1 degrees (p = 0.007) on the right leg side during backward walking. For the healthy participant, the significant changes were only found in his right knee joint ROM having increased by 4.2 degrees (p = 0.031) and in his left ankle joint ROM having increased by 5.5 degrees (p = 0.006) during the left side stepping. 

To bridge the gap between the biological sciences (typically female-dominated) and engineering (typically male-dominated), biomedical engineering (BME) activities could potentially be used as a vehicle to alter female students' perception of engineering as a whole. Female's pursuit of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) degrees is typically confined to the biological sciences and females earn a high proportion of degrees in nursing, psychology and the social sciences, yet male presence persists in physical sciences and engineering. Female's participation in engineering remains much lower than men at all degree levels. Here, research questions included do female high school students: 1) perceive engineering as relevant? 2) have an interest & aptitude towards exploring engineering in college and as a career? 3) have anxiety in terms of engineering? 4) have engineering "role-confidence"? Participants, a randomly selected pool of 28 high school students (almost exclusively female from schools throughout the DC Metro area) took part in a week-long, all-day workshop where they were exposed to female engineering mentors, peers, and activities tied to BME & Engineering. Pre and post surveys, adapted from standard STEM surveys, were administered to the pool of participants. Increases in confidence and interest in engineering and decreased anxiety were observed following female high school students' participation in hands-on activities in BME. 

With the massive growth of the aging population worldwide, of utmost importance is reducing falls. Critical to reducing fall risk is one's ability to weight incoming sensory information towards maintaining balance. The purpose of this research was to investigate if simple, targeted sensory training on aging individuals (50 - 80 years old), including twelve healthy and eight individuals with chronic stroke, could improve their balance. Repeated sensory training targeted visual (via eyes-open/closed) and somatosensory inputs (via light touch to the fingertip as well as hard, soft foam, and hard foam support surfaces to the feet) during standing and dynamic base-of-support (BOS) exercises. Study participants underwent six weeks of training. Prior to and post training, standing balance was assessed via a simple, clinical measure: the balance error scoring system (BESS). Following several weeks of training, participants showed significant improvements in BESS errors: healthy participants for small BOS with limited somatosensory information (i.e., tandem and single-leg standing on foam) and participants with stroke in all conditions.Clinical Relevance- This research study demonstrated that simple, accessible exercises, can positively impact balance in the aging population, a pressing need. 

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of utilizing sensory (i.e., vision and touch), as well as static and dynamic base of support training on the balance of senior participants aged 60–80 years old. For each participant, there were several weeks of training, two sessions per week and assessments every two weeks. Training included walking and standing exercises on a hard surface, compliant and stiffer foam walking and standing balance training, and navigating obstacles. Within each session, to modify vision, all training included eyes-open and closed. Further, there were increases in training difficulty as the sessions progressed.

It was observed that training over several weeks resulted in increases in stability, as observed by the decreases in Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) assessment results. However, increases in balance confidence, as observed by the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale were less certain in this healthy elderly (or senior) population. It is an interesting and positive finding that, in doing relatively simple, but targeted exercises and training, senior individuals can have moderate improvements in their balance and, perhaps ultimately, reduce their fall-risk.

 

In order to meet the increasing societal and market demand for a diverse and well-trained Biomedical Engineering (BME) workforce, the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), the nation’s only urban land-grant institution, the District of Columbia’s only public institution of higher education, and a historically black college and university (HBCU), nurtures BME activities focused on exposure, training and cultivation through research and experiential learning. Undergraduate design projects and research-based learning opportunities in BME are key program ingredients. This paper presents the former (i.e., three, BME-related undergraduate senior Capstone Design projects that target devices to aid patient immobility) namely, the design of: 1) an ankle foot orthosis, 2) an upperlimb robotic hand prosthetic, and 3) a chairless chair lower limb exoskeleton.

A current focus of the UDC BME program is Rehabilitation Engineering (i.e., interventions and devices aimed at aiding those with mobility impairments). We briefly discuss the necessity for rehabilitation-focused, biomedical-related undergraduate experiences and training for underrepresented minority students at UDC, in particular, undergraduate engineering education through multidisciplinary BME projects that foster hands-on creativity towards innovative designs.

In addition to critical design experiences and undergraduate training in BME, devices may have the potential to develop into new commercial technologies and/or research projects that will aid and enhance the quality life of individuals suffering from a wide-range of mobility-related issues.

 

The purpose of this paper is to describe novel experiments and methodologies utilizing a distinctive balance platform system to investigate postural responses for moderate to severe vestibular loss and invasive vestibular prosthesis-assisted nonhuman primates (rhesus monkeys). For several millions of vestibular loss sufferers in the U.S., daily living is severely affected in that common everyday tasks, such as getting out of bed at night, maintaining balance on a moving bus, or walking on an uneven surface, may cause a loss of stability leading to falls and injury. Aside from loss of balance, blurred vision and vertigo (perceived spinning sensation) are also debilitating in vestibular-impaired individuals. Although the need for vestibular rehabilitative solutions is apparent, postural responses for a broad range of peripheral vestibular function, and for various stationary and moving support conditions, have not been systematically investigated. For the investigation of implants and prostheses that are being developed toward implementation in humans, nonhuman primates are a key component. The measurement system used in this research was unique. Our platform system facilitated the study of rhesus monkey posture for stationary support surface conditions (quiet stance and head turns) and for dynamic support surface conditions (pseudorandom roll tilts of the support surface). Further, the platform system was used to systematically study postural responses that will serve as baseline measures for future vestibular-focused human and nonhuman primate posture studies.