Biomedical subjects

M G Gardner-Morse

Publications and source records attributed to M G Gardner-Morse.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Trunk stiffness increases with steady-state effort.

Trunk stiffness was measured in healthy human subjects as a function of steady-state preload efforts in different horizontal loading directions. Since muscle stiffness increases with increased muscle activation associated with increasing effort, it is believed that coactivation of muscles helps to stiffen and stabilize the trunk. This paper tested whether increased steady-state preload effort increases trunk stiffness. Fourteen young healthy subjects each stood in an apparatus with the pelvis immobilized. They were loaded horizontally at directions of 0, 45, 90, 135 and 180 degrees to the forward direction via a thoracic harness. Subjects first equilibrated with a steady-state load of 20 or 40% of their maximum extension effort. Then a sine-wave force perturbation of nominal amplitude of 7.5 or 15% of maximum effort and nominal period of 250ms was applied. Both the applied force and subsequent motion were recorded. Effective trunk mass and trunk-driving point stiffness were estimated by fitting the experimental data to a second-order differential equation of the trunk dynamic behavior. The mean effective trunk mass was 14.1kg (s.d.=4.7). The trunk-driving point stiffness increased on average 36.8% (from 14.5 to 19.8N/mm) with an increase in the nominal steady-state preload effort from 20 to 40% (F(1,13)=204.96, p<0.001). There was a smaller, but significant variation in trunk stiffness with loading direction. The measured increase in trunk stiffness probably results from increased muscle stiffness with increased muscle activation at higher steady-state efforts.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Strategies used to stabilize the elbow joint challenged by inverted pendulum loading.

The stiffness of activated muscles may stabilize a loaded joint by preventing perturbations from causing large displacements and injuring the joint. Here the elbow muscle recruitment patterns were compared with the forearm loaded vertically (a potentially unstable inverted pendulum configuration) and with horizontal loading. Eighteen healthy subjects were studied with the forearm vertical and supinated and the elbow flexed approximately 90 degrees. In the first experiment EMG electrodes recorded activity of biceps, triceps, and brachioradialis muscles for joint torques produced (a) by voluntarily exerting a horizontal force isometrically (b) by voluntarily flexing and extending the elbow while the forearm was loaded vertically with 135N. The relationship between the EMG and the torque generated was quantified by the linear regression slope and zero-torque intercept. In a second experiment a vertical load increasing linearly with time up to 300N was applied. In experiment 1 the EMG-torque relationships for biceps and triceps had an intercept about 10% of maximum voluntary effort greater with the vertical compared to the horizontal force, the inverse was found for Brachioradialis, but the EMG-torque slopes for both agonist and antagonistic muscles were not different. In experiment 2 there were 29 trials with minimal elbow displacement and all the three muscles activated on the order of 11% of maximum activation to stabilize the elbow; 19 trials had small elbow extension and 14 trials small flexion requiring altered muscle forces for equilibrium; 7 trials ended in large unstable displacement or early termination of the test. An analysis indicate that the observed levels of muscle activation would only provide stability if the muscles' short-range stiffness was at the high end of the published range, hence the elbow was marginally stable. The stability analysis also indicated that the small elbow extension increased stability and flexion decreased stability.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1998

The effects of abdominal muscle coactivation on lumbar spine stability.

STUDY DESIGN: A biomechanical model of the lumbar spine was used to calculate the effects of abdominal muscle coactivation on spinal stability. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the effects of abdominal muscle coactivation on lumbar spine stability, muscle fatigue rate, and lumbar spine compression forces. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The activation of human trunk muscles has been found to involve coactivation of antagonistic muscles, which has not been adequately predicted by biomechanical models. Antagonistic activation of abdominal muscles might produce flexion moments resulting from abdominal pressurization. Qualitatively, antagonistic activity also has been attributed to the need to stabilize the spine. METHODS: Spinal loads and spinal stability were calculated for maximum and submaximum (40%, 60% and 80%) efforts in extension and lateral bending using a previously published, anatomically realistic biomechanical model of the lumbar spine and its musculature. Three different antagonistic abdominal muscle coactivation patterns were imposed, and results were compared with those found in a model with no imposed coactivation. RESULTS: Results were quantified in terms of the sum of cubed muscle stresses (sigma sigma m3, which is related to the muscle fatigue rate), the maximum compressive loading on the lumbar spine, and the critical value of the muscle stiffness parameter (q) required for the spine to be stable. Forcing antagonistic coactivation increased stability, but at the cost of an increase in sigma sigma m3 and a small increase in maximum spinal compression. CONCLUSIONS: These analyses provide estimates of the effects of antagonistic abdominal muscle coactivation, indicating that its probable role is to stabilize the spine.

Abdominal Muscles↗

PubMed1990

Incorporation of spinal flexibility measurements into finite element analysis.

This technical note demonstrates two methods of incorporating the experimental stiffness of spinal motion segments into a finite element analysis of the spine. The first method is to incorporate the experimental data directly as a stiffness matrix. The second method approximates the experimental data as a beam element.

Elasticity↗