Publications by authors named "Marit Johnson"
Article Synopsis
- Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are being studied for their effectiveness in measuring movement in individuals with low back pain, compared to traditional optoelectronic motion capture systems.
- The study involved 17 participants performing six movement assessments while wearing four IMUs and found good to excellent reliability in measuring primary plane movements, but lower reliability in other planes.
- The data showed that IMUs generally align with optoelectronic systems for primary movements, but highlighted issues in non-primary movements, indicating a need for improved calibration and algorithms for broader use.
Quantitative in vivo biomechanical assessments are typically performed with optoelectronic motion capture (MoCap) using retroreflective markers attached to skin. This technique inherently contains measurement errors from both marker placement on palpated bony landmarks and skin motion relative to the underlying bone (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssessing physical activity is important in the treatment of chronic conditions, including chronic low back pain (cLBP). ActiGraph™, a widely used physical activity monitor, collects raw acceleration data, and processes these data through proprietary algorithms to produce physical activity measures. The purpose of this study was to replicate ActiGraph™ algorithms in MATLAB and test the validity of this method with both healthy controls and participants with cLBP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Lumbar intervertebral disc height loss can lead to spinal height changes and low back pain, especially during computer work where non-invasive solutions often require lying down.
- The study aimed to assess intermittent vertical traction (VT) integrated with computer work as a method to enhance spinal height and alleviate low back pain, using a newly developed VT prototype.
- Results showed that VT significantly increased spinal height and reduced pain ratings similar to lying down, suggesting it could be an effective ergonomic solution for those working at desks.
Objective: Biomechanics represents the common final output through which all biopsychosocial constructs of back pain must pass, making it a rich target for phenotyping. To exploit this feature, several sites within the NIH Back Pain Consortium (BACPAC) have developed biomechanics measurement and phenotyping tools. The overall aims of this article were to: 1) provide a narrative review of biomechanics as a phenotyping tool; 2) describe the diverse array of tools and outcome measures that exist within BACPAC; and 3) highlight how leveraging these technologies with the other data collected within BACPAC could elucidate the relationship between biomechanics and other metrics used to characterize low back pain (LBP).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Previous animal models of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) rely on open surgical approaches, which confound the degenerative response and pain behaviors due to injury to surrounding tissues during the surgical approach. To overcome these challenges, we developed a minimally invasive percutaneous puncture procedure to induce IDD in a rat model.
Methods: Ten Fischer 344 male rats underwent percutaneous annular puncture of lumbar intervertebral discs (IVDs) at L2-3, L3-4, and L4-5.