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Jackson_Anne_Marie_Masters_Thesis_Formatted.pdf (7.05 MB)
ETD Abstract Container
Abstract Header
Using Simulation to Investigate How Muscle Weakness Affects Stair Ascent
Author Info
Jackson, Anne Marie
ORCID® Identifier
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3159-4174
Permalink:
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492617442073649
Abstract Details
Year and Degree
2017, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Mechanical Engineering.
Abstract
Stair ascent is a common activity of daily living (ADL), and is often reported to be the most challenging ADL by older adults. The adults who struggle with this task tend to exhibit increasing muscle weakness, decreased balance, fear, and decreased confidence in their ability to navigate stairs. A variety of assistive devices exist to help these individuals ascend stairs, but they tend to have major drawbacks – they have to be installed, are expensive, require arm strength, or present a tripping hazard in a population already prone to tripping. In order to create a portable, inexpensive device to assist in stair ascent, a deeper investigation of stair ascent’s sensitivity to muscle weakness in important muscle groups must be undertaken. We created three-dimensional, muscle-driven simulations of five older healthy subjects ascending stairs and iteratively weakened the peak isometric force of muscles both globally and in major muscle groups to investigate how sensitive stair ascent is to muscle weakness. In general, weakened muscles displayed increased activation and antagonist muscles showed decreased activation. Compensation strategies were often required for bi-articular muscles in order to maintain kinematics and kinetics at all joints. We found that stair ascent is most sensitive to ankle plantar flexor weakness and global weakness. Additionally, the soleus showed the greatest contribution to both support and forward progression for all phases of gait. In comparison to previous studies of gait, our results suggest that stair ascent is more sensitive to global muscle weakness. Simulations appeared to fail when the soleus was too weak to contribute to the ankle plantar flexion moment and other muscles were unable to compensate for soleus weakness. These results suggest that a device targeting the ankle may be beneficial for older adults with muscle weakness, in order to assist with stair ascent. Future studies investigating muscle weakness in this population with different activities of daily living are needed to determine if an ankle assistive device is feasible before design and physical testing can be undertaken.
Committee
Robert Siston (Advisor)
Ajit Chaudhari (Committee Member)
Pages
155 p.
Subject Headings
Mechanical Engineering
Keywords
simulation
;
muscle weakness
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Refworks
EndNote
RIS
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Citations
Jackson, A. M. (2017).
Using Simulation to Investigate How Muscle Weakness Affects Stair Ascent
[Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492617442073649
APA Style (7th edition)
Jackson, Anne.
Using Simulation to Investigate How Muscle Weakness Affects Stair Ascent.
2017. Ohio State University, Master's thesis.
OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center
, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492617442073649.
MLA Style (8th edition)
Jackson, Anne. "Using Simulation to Investigate How Muscle Weakness Affects Stair Ascent." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492617442073649
Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)
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Document number:
osu1492617442073649
Download Count:
235
Copyright Info
© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.