The effects of impaired post-stroke coordination and motor pathway integrity on mobility performance
Funding Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Project Description: The overall goal of this project is to better understand the contribution of corticospinal and corticoreticular pathways to: the control of non-steady state walking mobility tasks, the observed deficits in module coordination resulting from their injury, and recovery of walking function. This project will also seek to understand how impaired muscle coordination limits biomechanical function execution and restricts mobility performance in a variety of tasks deemed fundamental to household and community walking.
Collaborators: Dr. Steve Kautz at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Determination of fall risk for lower limb amputees
Funding Agency: US Army Medical Research
Project Description: The primary goal of the proposed research is to create and validate a body-worn sensor algorithm that can quantify the frequency of amputee falls in real-world environments.
Collaborators: Lindsey Lewallen, Dr. Shane Wurdeman, Hanger Clinics, Dr. Corey Pew, Montana St. University
Analysis of dual-task conditions during normal walking
Project Description: The aim of this study is to understand the influence of cognitive load on balance control during steady-state walking.
Collaborators: Ella Small, Lydia Brough
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, Aude LeFranc, and Dr. Glenn Klute at the VA RR&D Center for Limb Loss Prevention & Prosthetic Engineering.
Mediolateral balance control
Project Description: The goal of this project is to use a novel perturbation device to alter mediolateral foot placement and assess its influence on balance control.
Collaborators: Lydia Brough, Dr. Glenn Klute at the VA RR&D Center for Limb Loss Prevention & Prosthetic Engineering.
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: Shelby Walford, Dr. Jeff Rankin and Dr. Sara Mulroy at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center.
The influence of ankle-foot orthoses on post-stroke hemiparetic walking
Funding Agency: The American Heart Association (AHA)
Project Description: The goal of this project is to investigate the influence of ankle-foot othoses (AFOs) on gait performance in healthy and individuals post-stroke.
Collaborators: Dr. Arian Vistamehr and Dr. Emily Fox at Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital.