4DCT as a tool to evaluate kinematic changes due to ACL injury: Determination of a workflow for the clinical setting

Anterior cruciate ligament tears are a common injury, with over two million people affected annually. Typically, magnetic resonance imaging is used to diagnose the injury, but this technique is less sensitive in evaluating incomplete or concomitant injuries. Four-dimensional computed tomography is a relatively new technique that can become...

Evaluating the influence of different sit-to- stand strategies on the biomechanics of the upper extremity dependent on age and sex

Introduction: During the sit-to-stand (STS) motion, thigh push-of (TP) is frequently used, yet the biomechanical advantage for the upper extremity, is relatively unknown. In this thesis, the STS motion is analyzed for three different techniques; TP, armrest push-off (AP), and no arm aid (NA). The aim of this study is to determine the...

Investigating the Theoretical Feasibility of Longitudinal Motion Control in Indoor Cycling Trainers

As the indoor cycling trainer industry keeps innovating, a cycling trainer that has a similar longitudinal motion to outdoor cycling does not yet exist. Therefore, this thesis aimed to design a simulator controller that can actively simulate longitudinal cycling motion and assess its performance in translating outdoor longitudinal cycling...

Confirmatory Factor Analysis as a Biomechanical Tool: A Novel Approach to Investigating Different Fatigue Aspects in Baseball Pitching

BACKGROUND: Rising UCL injury rates at both amateur and professional levels have been linked to fatigue in baseball pitchers. Repeated pitching has been associated with changes to kinematics, kinetics, and perceived fatigue, but no statistical model exists which incorporates all the most common aspects of fatigue into one framework. Confirmatory...

Using Inertial Sensors to Estimate the Normal Force on the Castor Wheels during Handrim Wheelchair Propulsion In-Field

The first aim of this master thesis is to explore whether the normal force on the castor wheels can be estimated from IMU data using a machine learning approach. The second aim is to evaluate whether incorporating the changing load distribution due to trunk movement could improve the friction power estimation compared with neglecting changes in...

Addition of torso musculature to a simplified musculoskeletal model for 2D predictive simulation of the sit-to-walk movement

The ability of musculoskeletal models to acquire metrics and simulate human motion enables researchers to perform biomechanical analysis of daily activities. The improved analysis of human motion could for instance help recognize physical decline early. The sit-to-stand movement, which is performed 60 times daily on average, is one greatly...

Sensor fusion for estimating joint kinematics and kinetics of biomechanical systems: Validation using a robotic manipulator

The study of human motion consists of the analysis of kinematics, dealing with joint angles, velocities and accelerations, and kinetics, which deals with joint torques and interaction forces. Traditionally, kinematics and kinetics are estimated from optical marker data and sometimes measured interaction forces. Inertial measurement units (IMUs)...

Forearm Rotation after Malunited Diaphyseal Fracture: Predicting Range of Motion with a Kinematic Model

Introduction Fractures of the diaphysis of the radius and/or ulna are most common in children from 5 to14 years old and take up to 40% of all pediatric fractures. Patients with a diaphyseal fracture of the forearm can develop a malunion: healing of the bones in non-anatomical position. This can lead to pain, cosmetic differences and a limitation...

The effects of local fibre organization on the elastic and rupture behaviour of tissue engineered fibrous cap models

Atherosclerosis is a cardiovascular disease in the arteries and a primary cause of death in the industrialized world. Most deaths due to atherosclerosis occur when the fibrous cap covering the necrotic core ruptures, leading to a blood clot. To determine whether an atherosclerotic plaque will rupture requires the development of accurate...

Biomechanical Differences Between Violinists With and Without Neck and Shoulder Complaints

Background:<br/>Many professional violin players develop pain complaints in neck and shoulder regions as a result of prolonged practices containing highly repetitive motions and awkward postures. These complaints are often diagnosed as overuse syndrome, where physical changes are not apparent and of which the etiology is not yet understood....

An IMU tracking algorithm for 3D motion reconstruction using OpenSim dynamical models: Implementation on a robot manipulator

Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)-based motion capture has gained interest over the years due to its potential to measure human movement in the clinic and on the sports field at low cost. Still, IMU-based motion reconstruction remains a challenging task as these IMU measurements are corrupted by noise and bias. There have been many filtering and...

Upper Extremity Injury Prediction in Elite Youth Baseball Pitchers using Classification Methods

In baseball, pitchers have a high rate of throwing arm injury, which could lead to disability and less training time. This paper aims at investigating whether upcoming injuries of youth baseball pitchers can be detected before the athlete experiences injury symptoms. A total of 118 elite youth baseball pitchers from the Dutch national baseball...

The discriminating factors of winning and losing in elite wheelchair tennis

Technology is being used more and more to aid elite athletes in improving their performance. Recently there have been promising developments in the research using IMUs regarding wheelchair rugby and basketball. Applying this same measurement setup to wheelchair tennis could give better insight in the wheelchair mobility of wheelchair tennis...

Musculoskeletal modelling of the shoulder during baseball pitching: A research combining 3D kinematic measurements with musculoskeletal modelling

A musculoskeletal model of the shoulder region, which uses kinematic data as an input an estimates muscle forces and joint loads as an output, can give valuable information on the pitching motion. This helps us to get more insight into the pitching motion and its biomechanical interactions and may also help in reducing the injury risk and...