According to the World Health Organization (WHO), musculoskeletal conditions comprise more than 150 diagnoses that affect the locomotor system – that is, muscles, bones, joints and associated tissues such as tendons and ligaments, as listed in the International Classification of Diseases [1]. They range from those that arise suddenly and are short-lived, such as fractures, sprains and strains; to lifelong conditions associated with ongoing pain and disability. Musculoskeletal conditions affect people across the life-course in all regions of the world and were the leading cause of disability in four of the six WHO regions in 2017. A recent study in the US indicated that one in two adult Americans live with some form of musculoskeletal conditions, which account for the greatest proportion of lost productivity in the workplace at US$213 billion – 1.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GPD) [2].

Musculoskeletal rehabilitation programs are often prescribed by doctors to improve the person’s ability to function, reduce symptoms, and improve the person’s well-being. In particular, resistance training (RT) as therapeutic modality in various musculoskeletal conditions has been demonstrated to be effective [3]. However, almost all of these training exercises lack direct feedbacks on the level of strains exerted by the muscle groups or joints being rehabilitated. They rely heavily on experienced physical therapists (PT) who need to be present to make regular observation and offer verbal coaching. At-home exercises in the absence of a PT are substantially less effective due to the lack of coaching and/or discipline on the part of the patients, particularly elderly patients [4].

The aim of this project is to create a wearable muscle strength feedback sensor that can provide audible or visual feedbacks to the patient during training. The sensor can also record the time, duration, and progress of the exercises. The collected data can be stored for later retrieval by the patients or the PT for analysis. The purpose is to enhance the effectiveness of exercise routines particularly in the absent of a PT and to provide an objective recording and analysis of the therapeutic progress. The project goals are to identify a muscle group and several exercise routines for initial demonstration of the feedback system, the mechanisms for sensing muscle strengths, the approach to provide real-time feedbacks, and to construct the prototype to demonstrate the concept. The easiest muscle groups for this project demonstration could be the quadriceps or biceps. The mechanism for sensing might be myoelectric to measure electromyography (EMG) to infer muscle strengths or measurement of muscle volume or shape changes during flexing with stretch sensors. Raspberry Pi or Arduino microcontroller could be used for the system. The exercise routine could be isotonic strength training of the muscle group(s), which does not involve bending the associated joints. The student team is free to brainstorm their preferred approaches to achieve the project goals.

References:

[1]

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/musculoskeletal-conditions. Accessed

2019-08-26.

[2]

The Impact of Musculoskeletal Disorders on Americans — Opportunities for Action

http://www.boneandjointburden.org/docs/BMUSExecutiveSummary2016.pdf Bone and Joint Initiative USA. 2016.

[3]

J. Kristensen and A. Franklyn-Miller, “Resistance training in musculoskeletal

rehabilitation: a systematic review,” British J. Sports Med., Vol. 46, No. 10, 2010, DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.2010.079376.

[4]

H. Gutiérrez-Espinoza, D. Rubio-Oyarzún, C. Olguín-Huerta, R. Gutiérrez-Monclus, S.

Pinto-Concha, and G. Gana-Hervias, “Supervised physical therapy vs home exercise program for patients with distal radius fracture: A single-blind randomized clinical study,” J. Hand Therapy, Vol. 30, No. 3, 2017, pp. 242 – 252.

Project Mentor:

Engineering Mentor: William C. Tang, Department of Biomedical Engineering wctang@uci.edu

Physician Mentor: Hengchu Cao, Director of Engineering, Edwards Life Sciences, Hengchu_Cao@Edwards.com

Team: