Quantification of Gait Stability During Incline and Decline Walking: The Responses of Required Coefficient of Friction and Dynamic Postural Index.

This study aims to investigate the gait stability response during incline and decline walking for various surface inclination angles in terms of the required coefficient of friction (RCOF), postural stability index (PSI), and center of pressure (COP)-center of mass (COM) distance. A customized platform with different surface inclinations (0°, 5°, 7.5°, and 10°) was designed. Twenty-three male volunteers participated by walking on an inclined platform for each inclination. The process was then repeated for declined platform as well. Qualysis motion capture system was used to capture and collect the trajectories motion of ten reflective markers that attached to the subjects before being exported to a visual three-dimensional (3D) software and executed in Matlab to obtain the RCOF, PSI, as well as dynamic PSI (DPSI) and COP-COM distance parameters. According to the result for incline walking, during initial contact, the RCOF was not affected to inclination. However, it was affected during peak ground reaction force (GRF) starting at 7.5° towards 10° for both walking conditions. The most affected PSI was found at anterior-posterior PSI (APSI) even as low as 5° inclination during both incline and decline walking. On the other hand, DPSI was not affected during both walking conditions. Furthermore, COP-COM distance was most affected during decline walking in anterior-posterior direction. The findings of this research indicate that in order to decrease the risk of falling and manage the inclination demand, a suitable walking strategy and improved safety measures should be applied during slope walking, particularly for decline and anterior-posterior orientations. This study also provides additional understanding on the best incline walking technique for secure and practical incline locomotion.

A Review on Magnetic Induction Spectroscopy Potential for Fetal Acidosis Examination.

Fetal acidosis is one of the main concerns during labor. Currently, fetal blood sampling (FBS) has become the most accurate measurement of acidosis detection. However, it is invasive and does not provide a real time measurement due to laboratory procedures. Delays in diagnosis of acidosis have caused serious injury to the fetus, especially for the brain and the heart. This paper reviews the new technique in diagnosis of acidosis non-invasively. Magnetic Induction Spectroscopy (MIS) has been proposed to be a new device for acidosis detection in recent years. This paper explains the basic principle of MIS and outlines the design specifications and design considerations for a MIS pH probe. It is expected that readers will gain a basic understanding of the development of a MIS pH probe from this review.

Finite Element Prediction on Fracture Load of Femur with Osteogenesis Imperfecta under Various Loading Conditions.

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is an inherited disorder characterized by extreme bone fragility due to collagen defects. It is an incurable disease. Bone fractures can occur frequently without prior notice, especially among children. Early quantitative prediction of fracture loads due to OI tends to alert patients to avoid unnecessary situations or dangerous conditions. This study is aimed at investigating the fracture loads of femur with OI under various types of loading. Ten finite element models of an OI-affected bone were reconstructed from the normal femur with different bowing angles ranging from 7.5 to 30.0°. The boundary conditions were assigned on an OI-affected femoral head under three types of load: medial-lateral impacts, compression-tension, and internal-external torsions, and various loading direction cases that reflect the stance condition. The fracture load was examined based on the load that can cause bone fracture for each case. The results show that the loads bearable by the femur before fracture were decreased with respect to the increase of OI bowing angles in most of the loading cases. The risk of fracture for the femur with OI was directly proportional to the increase of bowing angles in the frontal plane. This study provides new insights on fracture load prediction in OI-affected bone with respect to various loading types, which could help medical personnel for surgical intervention judgement.