Targeted exercises against hip fragility.

SUMMARY: Compared to high-impact exercises, moderate-magnitude impacts from odd-loading directions have similar ability to thicken vulnerable cortical regions of the femoral neck. Since odd-impact exercises are mechanically less demanding to the body, this type of exercise can provide a reasonable basis for devising feasible, targeted bone training against hip fragility. INTRODUCTION: Regional cortical thinning at the femoral neck is associated with hip fragility. Here, we investigated whether exercises involving high-magnitude impacts, moderate-magnitude impacts from odd directions, high-magnitude muscle forces, low-magnitude impacts at high repetition rate, or non-impact muscle forces at high repetition rate were associated with thicker femoral neck cortex. METHODS: Using three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging, we scanned the proximal femur of 91 female athletes, representing the above-mentioned five exercise-loadings, and 20 referents. Cortical thickness at the inferior, anterior, superior, and posterior regions of the femoral neck was evaluated. Between-group differences were analyzed with ANCOVA. RESULTS: For the inferior cortical thickness, only the high-impact group differed significantly (approximately 60%, p = 0.012) from the reference group, while for the anterior cortex, both the high-impact and odd-impact groups differed (approximately 20%, p = 0.042 and p = 0.044, respectively). Also, the posterior cortex was approximately 20% thicker (p = 0.014 and p = 0.006, respectively) in these two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Odd-impact exercise-loading was associated, similar to high-impact exercise-loading, with approximately 20% thicker cortex around the femoral neck. Since odd-impact exercises are mechanically less demanding to the body than high-impact exercises, it is argued that this type of bone training would offer a feasible basis for targeted exercise-based prevention of hip fragility.

Software suite for finite difference method models.

We have developed a software suite for finite difference method (FDM) model construction, visualization and quasi-static simulation to be used in bioelectric field modeling. The aim of the software is to provide a full path from medical image data to simulation of bioelectric phenomena and results visualization. It is written in Java and can be run on various platforms while still supporting all features included. The software can be distributed across a network utilizing dedicated servers for calculation intensive tasks. Supported visualization modes are both two- and three-dimensional modes.