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Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of biophysics.
Dizziness is an imprecise term that can refer to a sense of disorientation in space, vertigo, or lightheadedness. It can also refer to disequilibrium or a non-specific feeling, such as giddiness or foolishness.
Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon is deliberately expanded and flexed in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility, and range of motion. Stretching is also used therapeutically to alleviate cramps and to improve function in daily activities by increasing range of motion.
Posturography is the technique used to quantify postural control in upright stance in either static or dynamic conditions. Among them, Computerized dynamic posturography (CDP), also called test of balance (TOB), is a non-invasive specialized clinical assessment technique used to quantify the central nervous system adaptive mechanisms (sensory, motor and central) involved in the control of posture and balance, both in normal (such as in physical education and sports training) and abnormal conditions (particularly in the diagnosis of balance disorders and in physical therapy and postural re-education). Due to the complex interactions among sensory, motor, and central processes involved in posture and balance, CDP requires different protocols in order to differentiate among the many defects and impairments which may affect the patient's posture control system. Thus, CDP challenges it by using several combinations of visual and support surface stimuli and parameters.
Fish locomotion is the various types of animal locomotion used by fish, principally by swimming. This is achieved in different groups of fish by a variety of mechanisms of propulsion, most often by wave-like lateral flexions of the fish's body and tail in the water, and in various specialised fish by motions of the fins. The major forms of locomotion in fish are:
Fitness game, exergame, and gamercise are terms used for video games that are also a form of exercise. Fitness games rely on technology that tracks body movement or reaction. The genre has been used to challenge the stereotype of gaming as a sedentary activity, and promoting an active lifestyle among gamers. Fitness games are seen as evolving from technology aimed at making exercise more fun.
Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspiration, or difficulties walking. It is typically worse when the head is moved. Vertigo is the most common type of dizziness.
The vestibular nerve is one of the two branches of the vestibulocochlear nerve. In humans the vestibular nerve transmits sensory information from vestibular hair cells located in the two otolith organs and the three semicircular canals via the vestibular ganglion of Scarpa. Information from the otolith organs reflects gravity and linear accelerations of the head. Information from the semicircular canals reflects rotational movement of the head. Both are necessary for the sensation of body position and gaze stability in relation to a moving environment.
Legged robots are a type of mobile robot which use articulated limbs, such as leg mechanisms, to provide locomotion. They are more versatile than wheeled robots and can traverse many different terrains, though these advantages require increased complexity and power consumption. Legged robots often imitate legged animals, such as humans or insects, in an example of biomimicry.
Around 350 BCE, Aristotle and other philosophers of the time attempted to explain the aerodynamics of avian flight. Even after the discovery of the ancestral bird Archaeopteryx which lived over 150 million years ago, debates still persist regarding the evolution of flight. There are three leading hypotheses pertaining to avian flight: Pouncing Proavis model, Cursorial model, and Arboreal model.
Active sitting is the practice of enabling or encouraging movement while seated. It is also commonly known as dynamic sitting. The underlying notion highlights the advantages of incorporating flexibility and movement while sitting, as it can positively impact the human body and allow the completion of certain tasks that require sitting. "Active sitting, consisting of modified chairs or stability balls, allows the body to stay dynamic while seated." One of the earliest forms of active sitting is the common rocking chair which allows forward and backward swaying motion.
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Proprioception is the sense of self-movement, force, and body position.
The ideomotor phenomenon is a psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes motions unconsciously. Also called ideomotor response and abbreviated to IMR, it is a concept in hypnosis and psychological research. It is derived from the terms "ideo" and "motor". The phrase is most commonly used in reference to the process whereby a thought or mental image brings about a seemingly "reflexive" or automatic muscular reaction, often of minuscule degree, and potentially outside of the awareness of the subject. As in responses to pain, the body sometimes reacts reflexively with an ideomotor effect to ideas alone without the person consciously deciding to take action. The effects of automatic writing, dowsing, facilitated communication, applied kinesiology, and ouija boards have been attributed to the phenomenon.
Many experimental realizations of self-propelled particles exhibit a strong tendency to aggregate and form clusters, whose dynamics are much richer than those of passive colloids. These aggregates of particles form for a variety of reasons, from chemical gradients to magnetic and ultrasonic fields. Self-propelled enzyme motors and synthetic nanomotors also exhibit clustering effects in the form of chemotaxis. Chemotaxis is a form of collective motion of biological or non-biological particles toward a fuel source or away from a threat, as observed experimentally in enzyme diffusion and also synthetic chemotaxis or phototaxis. In addition to irreversible schooling, self-propelled particles also display reversible collective motion, such as predator–prey behavior and oscillatory clustering and dispersion.
Spatial ability or visuo-spatial ability is the capacity to understand, reason, and remember the visual and spatial relations among objects or space.
X-ray motion analysis is a technique used to track the movement of objects using X-rays. This is done by placing the subject to be imaged in the center of the X-ray beam and recording the motion using an image intensifier and a high-speed camera, allowing for high quality videos sampled many times per second. Depending on the settings of the X-rays, this technique can visualize specific structures in an object, such as bones or cartilage. X-ray motion analysis can be used to perform gait analysis, analyze joint movement, or record the motion of bones obscured by soft tissue. The ability to measure skeletal motions is a key aspect to one's understanding of vertebrate biomechanics, energetics, and motor control.
Locomotion in space includes all actions or methods used to move one's body in microgravity conditions through the outer space environment. Locomotion in these conditions is different from locomotion in a gravitational field. There are many factors that contribute to these differences, and they are crucial when researching long-term survival of humans in space.
The Virtual Soldier Research program (VSR) is a research group within the University of Iowa Center for Computer-Aided Design (CCAD). VSR was founded by Professor Karim Abdel-Malek in 2003 through external funding from the US Army Tank Automotive Command (TACOM) to put the Warfighter at the center of US Army product designs. Professor Abdel-Malek's background in robotics and the use of rigorous mathematical formulations was the first introduction of mathematical kinematics to the field of Digital Human Modeling (DHM). Prior to 2003, all DHM models were based on experimental data that use lookup tables to enable the posturing of simple mannequins. Indeed, the first version of Santos, presented at the a DHM conference was met with great success because it was the first fully articulated digital human model that behaved as humans do, whereby joints had constraints and a user could pull on an arm for example and as a result the entire body would respond accordingly. Cost functions representing human performance measures were used to drive the motion within the optimization formulation. Seated posture prediction for example was accomplished by simply providing the seat geometry. The posture prediction methodology was subsequently validated Later on, the Predictive Dynamics method was created and used the same optimization technique with the addition of 3D laws of motion. The Santos system includes many aspects of physiology modeling, thermal, hand model, grasp prediction, gait analysis including stability, mobility, suitability, survivability, maintainability, training, and many other metrics typically used in the assessment of human performance for the Warfighter.
Gait deviations are nominally referred to as any variation of standard human gait, typically manifesting as a coping mechanism in response to an anatomical impairment. Lower-limb amputees are unable to maintain the characteristic walking patterns of an able-bodied individual due to the removal of some portion of the impaired leg. Without the anatomical structure and neuromechanical control of the removed leg segment, amputees must use alternative compensatory strategies to walk efficiently. Prosthetic limbs provide support to the user and more advanced models attempt to mimic the function of the missing anatomy, including biomechanically controlled ankle and knee joints. However, amputees still display quantifiable differences in many measures of ambulation when compared to able-bodied individuals. Several common observations are whole-body movements, slower and wider steps, shorter strides, and increased sway.
References
- ↑ Kwon, Yoo J; Park SJ; Jefferson J; Kim K (11 January 2013). "The Effect of Open and Closed Kinetic Chain Exercises on Dynamic Balance Ability of Normal Healthy Adults". Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 25: 671–674. doi:10.1589/jpts.25.671. PMC 3805008 . PMID 24259825 . Retrieved 18 October 2013.
- ↑ Gusi, N; Parraca, JA; Olivares, PR; Leal, A; Adsuar, JC (2010). "Tilt vibratory exercise and the dynamic balance in fibromyalgia: A randomized controlled trial". Arthritis Care & Research. 62: 1072–8. doi:10.1002/acr.20180. PMID 20235191.
- ↑ "The Free Dictionary; Dynamics". Houghton Mifflin Company. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
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