The influence of ankle-foot orthoses on post-stroke hemiparetic walking
Funding Agency: Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP)
Project Description:The overall goal of this project is to improve the quality of life for individuals with lower-limb impairment through a clinical trial examining three different modern carbon fiber AFO treatment options targeting the rehabilitation of individuals post-stroke.
Collaborators: Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital, Hanger Clinic, MUSC and Rancho Research Institute.
Automatic mode-dependent and phase-varying prosthetic foot stiffness modulation to improve balance control in individuals with lower-limb amputations
Funding Agency: National Institues for Health (NICHD)
Project Description:The goal of this project is to determine if automatic stiffness modulation can improve balance control of individuals with lower limb amputations as they perform typical ambulatory activities of daily living.
Collaborators: Dr. Glenn Klute at the VA Center for Limb Loss and MoBility (CLiMB).
Optimizing baseball pitching mechanics to minimize overuse injuries
Project Description:The goal of this project is to use experimental and modeling techniques to analyze different pitching techniques and the mechanisms that lead to UCL injuries.
Collaborators: Ty Berns, Kristin Stewart, Dr. Jon Slowik at the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI).
Analyzing the influence of hip exoskeletons on post-stroke walking mechanics
Project Description: The goal of this project is to understand how hip exoskeleton assistance strategies affect joint mechanics for individuals post-stroke.
Collaborators: Kristen Stewart, Dr. Greg Sawicki and Dr. Aaron Young at Georgia Tech.
The influence of load carriage and prosthetic foot stiffness on amputee gait performance
Funding Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Project Description: The overall goal of this project is to use experimental and modeling and simulation analyses to understand the influence of load carriage and prosthetic foot stiffness on amputee gait performance.
Collaborators: Kristin Stewart, Dr. Aude LeFranc, and Dr. Glenn Klute at the VA Center for Limb Loss and MoBility (CLiMB).
Mediolateral balance control during human movement
Project Description: The goal of this project is to identify differences in muscle contributions to balance control during forward and backward walking using modeling and simulation techaniques.
Collaborators: Devin Wang, Dr. Shelby Walford.
Wheelchair propulsion optimization
Project Description: The goal of this project is to using computer modeling and simulation techniques to identify the optimal manual wheelchair propulsion technique to reduce upper-extremity demand placed on the wheelchair user.
Collaborators: Dr. Shelby Walford and Dr. Jeff Rankin at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center.