Musculo-tendinous stiffness : design of a controlled-release ergometer for the knee

• Main Author: Dugan, Eric L.
• Other Authors: Humphries, Brendan
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Knee > Diseases.; Dynamometer > Design and construction.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/175950; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1272429

The purpose of this research was twofold: 1) Develop a controlled-release ergometer for the measurement of musculo-tendinous stiffness of the knee flexors and 2) Compare results of the measurement of musculo-tendinous stiffness obtained via controlled-release method and oscillation method. Each purpose was addressed in a separate research paper. Research paper one describes the successful modification of a Cybex NORM isokinetic ergometer for use in controlled-release experiments. The modifications include not only the ones to the Cybex, but also the design of an instrumented leg cuff and software to collect and analyze the data from the experiment. The stiffness values obtained from this technique compared favorably, when considering morphological differences, to those obtained from controlled-release experiments of the ankle joint. The main difficulty encountered in this experiment was the lack of information obtained from low end of the stiffness-moment curve. In research paper two, both techniques were successfully used to measure stiffness of the knee-flexors and no significant difference was found between the two methods, (p = 0.157). However, it was clear that each technique has its advantages and disadvantages in regard to what part of the stiffness-moment curve they are able to measure. Due to the inability of participants to perform the oscillation technique with high loads, this technique is best suited to measure stiffness of lightly loaded systems.On the other hand, the controlled-release technique provided a good representation of the high, linear end of the stiffness-moment curve, but was unable to provide good information about the toe-region of the stiffness-moment curve. === School of Physical Education