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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – MOSCOW, Idaho – June 3, 2015 – People who use leg prostheses often deal with pain caused by the very devices that help them move.
Craig McGowan, an assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Idaho, is studying the mechanics of movement so companies that design prostheses can create devices that work with the body’s neuromuscular system.
“The long-term goal is to have a device that enables people to have healthy, active lifestyles without pain,” says McGowan, who is also part of UI’s WWAMI Medical Education faculty.
With funding from a one-year Murdock Foundation Exceptional Opportunity Grant, McGowan and his students are developing a computer simulation that models how prostheses designed for running interact with the body.
Engineers design these running-specific devices – which are often called “blades” but work more like springs – but it’s unknown exactly how an amputee runner’s remaining muscles adapt to controlling the device, or how the runner’s limb interacts with the device’s rigid socket.
By studying athletes, McGowan’s team can understand the highest level of performance possible with these devices.
“It sets the upper bounds of what people are capable of,” he says. “If we look there, it lets us set a target for what’s possible for other individuals.”
The simulation’s first phase models a non-amputee using data gathered from real-life runners. McGowan is refining the program so it shows the way muscles are activated and work together, down to the finest detail.
“What we have is a plausible solution for how the muscles are driving a human being,” he says. “These are things we can’t measure directly in a human.”
The next step is building a simulation of an amputee using a prosthesis, which is still in progress.
McGowan first modified a general model to remove lost muscle and bone, then added a model of a prosthetic running device.
McGowan is now testing this model against data from amputee runners – the majority of whom are current or former Paralympic athletes – gathered in Salt Lake City through collaborative research with other institutions, including the University of Colorado at Boulder, MIT and Utah’s Orthopedic Specialty Hospital.
For more information about McGowan’s research, see UI’s 2015 Research Report:http://www.uidaho.edu/
About UI
The University of Idaho is one of only 72 land-grant research universities across the country. Home to nearly 12,000 students, the UI is a leader in student-centered learning and excels at interdisciplinary research, service to businesses and communities and in advancing diversity, citizenship and global outreach. U-Idaho is home to the Vandals and competes in the Big Sky Conference and Sun Belt Conference. Learn more: www.uidaho.edu.
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