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Researchers 'on the move' in lab |
| By
Deanna Woolf |
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Jan 19, 2006 |
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When you ask someone to mimic an elderly person, Peggy Arnos said, "They usually do this." She slumps her head forward, creating a hunched effect on her upper back.
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| Doctoral student Peggy Arnos monitors Rich Robinson, PhD student, as he walks in the path of the cameras to capture his motion. |
This characteristic may be familiar to most people, but the idea that elderly people's upper body posture has an effect on lower body mechanics isn't. Arnos, a PhD student in kinesiology, believes the slower gait and poor balance the elderly exhibit is due to how their upper body is situated, and she's using the Motion Analysis Laboratory to test the theory.
The lab, located in the Health and Human Services Building, is a state-of-the-art facility equipped with cameras, force measurers and computers with software capable of building 3-D models of the human body. "The lab is designed to give us the comprehensive ability to affect [and measure] movement," said Dr. Charles Armstrong, professor and chair of kinesiology and director of the lab.
The lab is similar to those used to create animated characters for video games and films. An experimental subject is fitted with reflective spheres, which resemble ping-pong balls. The spheres are usually placed at joints, explained Arnos, in order to capture the subject's movement. They can even be concentrated in one area of interest, such as the face.
Once the reflective spheres are in place, the subject begins a prescribed set of movements in the lab. For Arnos' study, for example, the subjects walk across the floor. Eight cameras capture the movement of the spheres in relation to each other, and the information is recorded and plotted onto a computer.
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| Dr. Charles Armstrong watches the computer program build and set into motion a skeletal model of an experimental subject. |
Armstrong showed the most basic model created, which looks like a stick figure moving. "We can then add muscles and bones and even add skin," he said. Other information, such as recordings from the force plates or muscle sensors, can be added to give a comprehensive picture of the person's body. Armstrong, for instance, works with orthopedic surgeons pre-operatively to map out the muscles and movements of children with cerebral palsy. "You can watch a child walk, but you don't know what's going on inside," he said. "It's usually speculative on the part of doctors, but this can now help them plan the treatment."
With the use of the lab, Arnos has found preliminary results that implicate upper body changes in poor lower body gait. During a pilot study, she had female UT students walk normally and then assume a slumped upper body posture. "It was exciting to see when younger women assumed the posture, the [lower body] changes were similar to those in the elderly," she said. "I thought, 'We might have something here.'"
Arnos said her study's "No. 1 goal is to prevent the degeneration of walking abilities." If research proves poor upper body posture causes locomotion problems, "we can improve the posture through exercise and therapy," she said.
For her research, Arnos will use more UT students and compare their movements to those of elderly participants from the area. She expects the full study to be completed in April or May.
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