May 22, 2014

OpenSim Webinar: Simulating Quadriceps Muscle Atrophy and Activation Deficits during Gait

Learn how muscle-driven simulations can be used to study the underlying mechanisms of muscle weakness.

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A recording of the webinar and a copy of the slides are available for download. You can read more about this study in the associated publication:

"Gluteus maximus and soleus compensate for simulated quadriceps atrophy and activation failure during walking," Journal of Biomechanics, September 2013, 46(13):2165-2172.

Details

Title: Simulating Quadriceps Muscle Atrophy and Activation Deficits during Gait
Speaker: Dr. Julie Thompson, Stanford University
Time: Thursday, May 22, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time

Registration

The event is free, but registration is required. To register for the event, click here

Abstract

Quadriceps weakness is common in populations such as those with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and following ACL injury and may be a result of muscle atrophy or reduced voluntary muscle activation. While weak quadriceps has been strongly correlated with functional limitations in these populations, the underlying mechanism relating abnormal lower extremity muscle function and patient function remain unknown.

As a first step towards determining those relationships, we performed a study using muscle-driven simulations to track normal gait kinematics in healthy subjects and applied simulated quadriceps weakness as atrophy and activation failure to evaluate compensation patterns associated with the individual sources of weakness. In this webinar, I will discuss how we developed our muscle-driven simulations using OpenSim, and our methods for simulating quadriceps muscle atrophy and activation deficits in the weakened models. I will also present the major findings from this study and its implications for future work.

About the Speaker

Dr. Julie Thompson is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University. The work she will be presenting for this webinar was part of her PhD studies under Dr. Robert Siston at Ohio State University.