Motion Capture
An eight-camera system is used to track the motion of
reflective markers that are placed over the segments and joints of
interest. This provides a complete time-history of the motion
of the major body segments. |
|
Force Measurement
A force plate is used to measure the forces generated between
the
subject and the ground. Together with the motion data described above,
this allows us to compute the internal forces and moments in the body. |
|
Electromyography
Muscle activation timing and amplitude are monitored using
small
electrodes that are placed on the skin over the muscles of interest.
This gives additional insight as to how muscles are contributing to a
movement.
|
|
Energy Expenditure
Metabolic energy consumption is estimated non-invasively from
measurements of the amount of oxygen consumed and the amount of carbon
dioxide that is produced.
|
|
Magnetic Resonance &
Ultrasound
The structure and function of the musculoskeletal system is determined
on living subjects using a combination of magnetic resonance imaging,
magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and ultrasound. |
|
Dynamic Modeling
The equations of motion for the human body are derived using a symbolic
manipulator (Autolev). The computer code that is generated is
interfaced with custom-written software for muscle dynamics.
|
|
Musculoskeletal Geometry
Musculoskeletal models are developed with the aid of software (SIMM)
that allows one to define the arrangement of bones, joints, and
muscles. This information is integrated into the dynamics models
described above.
|
|
Animation
The results of a simulation can be immediately visualized to see how
the generated movement 'looks'. This sort of assessment can be just as
important and instructive as detailed numerical analyses.
|
|
Computation
Most computationally intensive problems can be solved in-house
using a nine node computer cluster. For even larger problems, there is
access to other on-campus and off-campus computational facilities.
|
|