Multi-axis modulated compact fiber-based Fabry-Perot interferometric probe.

This paper presents design and operation of a multi-axis optical probe for independently measuring the relative displacements of external surfaces. Displacement is measured by mechanically modulating the optical cavity formed by an internal surface and the external surfaces, each of which comprise a Fabry-Perot interferometer. Multiple sensing axes are created using a beam splitter, and these sensing axes are separated by modulating the measurement paths at different frequencies.

A Co-Designed Active Video Game for Physical Activity Promotion in People With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Pilot Trial.

Background: People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who are less active have lower quality of life, greater risk of exacerbations, and greater mortality than those who are more active. The effectiveness of physical activity interventions may facilitate the addition of game elements to improve engagement. The use of a co-design approach with people with COPD and clinicians as co-designers may also improve the effectiveness of the intervention.

The effect of longer-range waviness on X-ray reflectivity measurements.

A model for calculating the X-ray reflectivity (XRR) of surfaces to extract both roughness and waviness features is presented. Expressions of reflectivity intensity are derived as a function of root-mean-square (RMS) roughness σ, RMS waviness σ, and the cut-off frequency between the features ω. Experiments were conducted at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, beamline 8.

Digitally enabled aged care and neurological rehabilitation to enhance outcomes with Activity and MObility UsiNg Technology (AMOUNT) in Australia: A randomised controlled trial.

Background: Digitally enabled rehabilitation may lead to better outcomes but has not been tested in large pragmatic trials. We aimed to evaluate a tailored prescription of affordable digital devices in addition to usual care for people with mobility limitations admitted to aged care and neurological rehabilitation.

Methods And Findings: We conducted a pragmatic, outcome-assessor-blinded, parallel-group randomised trial in 3 Australian hospitals in Sydney and Adelaide recruiting adults 18 to 101 years old with mobility limitations undertaking aged care and neurological inpatient rehabilitation.

Concurrent exergaming and transcranial direct current stimulation to improve balance in people with Parkinson's disease: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: People with Parkinson's disease (PD) commonly experience postural instability, resulting in poor balance and an increased risk of falls. Exercise-based video gaming (exergaming) is a form of physical training that is delivered through virtual reality technology to facilitate motor learning and is efficacious in improving balance in aged populations. In addition, studies have shown that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS), when applied to the primary motor cortex, can augment motor learning when combined with physical training.

Polydyne displacement interferometer using frequency-modulated light.

A radio-frequency Frequency-Modulated (FM) signal is used to diffract a He-Ne laser beam through an Acousto-Optic Modulator (AOM). Due to the modulation of the FM signal, the measured spectra of the diffracted beams comprise a series of phase-synchronized harmonics that have exact integer frequency separation. The first diffraction side-beam emerging from the AOM is selected by a slit to be used in a polydyne displacement interferometer in a Michelson interferometer topology.

Synchronous radio-frequency FM signal generator using direct digital synthesizers.

A novel Radio-Frequency Frequency-Modulated (RF-FM) signal generation method is introduced and a prototype circuit developed to evaluate its functionality and performance. The RF-FM signal generator uses a modulated, voltage-controlled time delay to correspondingly modulate the phase of a 10 MHz sinusoidal reference signal. This modulated reference signal is, in turn, used to clock a Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS) circuit resulting in an FM signal at its output.

Trial Implementation of a Telerehabilitation Exercise System in Residential Aged Care.

The 2011 Productivity Commission report, Caring for Older Australians, observed that as the number of older Australians rises and the demand for aged care services increases, there will be a commensurate increase in demand for a well-trained aged care workforce. One of the significant issues impacting upon the ability of the aged services sector to respond to a growing number of older adults is to attract and retain sufficient numbers of staff. A number of factors are acknowledged to contribute to a failure of the aged care sector to attract and retain workers including: poor sector reputation, poor working conditions, including high client-staff ratios, a lack of career paths and professional development opportunities and low rates of remuneration.

Effects of maturation and advanced glycation on tensile mechanics of collagen fibrils from rat tail and Achilles tendons.

Unlabelled: Connective tissues are ubiquitous throughout the body and consequently affect the function of many organs. In load bearing connective tissues like tendon, the mechanical functionality is provided almost exclusively by collagen fibrils that in turn are stabilized by covalent cross-links. Functionally distinct tendons display different cross-link patterns, which also change with maturation, but these differences have not been studied in detail at the fibril level.

The efficacy of interactive, motion capture-based rehabilitation on functional outcomes in an inpatient stroke population: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of novel interactive, motion capture-rehabilitation software to usual care stroke rehabilitation on physical function.

Design: Randomized controlled clinical trial.

Setting: Two subacute hospital rehabilitation units in Australia.

The effect of ongoing feedback on physical activity levels following an exercise intervention in older adults: a randomised controlled trial protocol.

Background: Physical inactivity ranks as a major contributing factor in the development and progression of chronic disease. Lifestyle interventions reduce the progression of chronic disease, however, compliance decreases over time and health effects only persist as long as the new lifestyle is maintained. Telephone counselling (TC) is an effective way to provide individuals with ongoing support to maintain lifestyle changes.

Interactive Games for Home Delivery of Exercise and Rehabilitation Interventions for Older Adults: An Australian Perspective.

Over the past few decades there has been a wealth of published scientific evidence for the physical, cognitive and social health-related benefits of increased physical activity, especially in older adults and people living with chronic disease. Despite the clear evidence base demonstrating the health-related benefits of physical activity, uptake and adherence is often disappointing. Therefore, methods for remote delivery of guided exercise programs are required, both to maximise the reach of physical activity promotion initiatives and programs across the older community and to minimise attrition once people begin to be physically active.

Theoretical and experimental study of the dynamic response of absorber-based, micro-scale, oscillatory probes for contact sensing applications.

This paper presents two models for predicting the frequency response of micro-scale oscillatory probes. These probes are manufactured by attaching a thin fiber to the free end of one tine of a quartz tuning fork oscillator. In these studies, the attached fibers were either 75 μm diameter tungsten or 7 μm diameter carbon with lengths ranging from around 1 to 15 mm.

Effect of affordable technology on physical activity levels and mobility outcomes in rehabilitation: a protocol for the Activity and MObility UsiNg Technology (AMOUNT) rehabilitation trial.

Introduction: People with mobility limitations can benefit from rehabilitation programmes that provide a high dose of exercise. However, since providing a high dose of exercise is logistically challenging and resource-intensive, people in rehabilitation spend most of the day inactive. This trial aims to evaluate the effect of the addition of affordable technology to usual care on physical activity and mobility in people with mobility limitations admitted to inpatient aged and neurological rehabilitation units compared to usual care alone.

Validity of Power Settings of the Wahoo KICKR Power Trainer.

Purpose: To assess the validity of power output settings of the Wahoo KICKR Power Trainer (KICKR) using a dynamic calibration rig (CALRIG) over a range of power outputs and cadences.

Methods: Using the KICKR to set power outputs, powers of 100-999 W were assessed at cadences (controlled by the CALRIG) of 80, 90, 100, 110, and 120 rpm.

Results: The KICKR displayed accurate measurements of power of 250-700 W at cadences of 80-120 rpm with a bias of -1.

Transport of inertial particles by viscous streaming in arrays of oscillating probes.

A mechanism for the transport of microscale particles in viscous fluids is demonstrated. The mechanism exploits the trapping of such particles by rotational streaming cells established in the vicinity of an oscillating cylinder, recently analyzed in previous work. The present work explores a strategy of transporting particles between the trapping points established by multiple cylinders undergoing oscillations in sequential intervals.

Accuracy, Validity, and Reliability of an Electronic Visual Analog Scale for Pain on a Touch Screen Tablet in Healthy Older Adults: A Clinical Trial.

Background: New technology for clinical data collection is rapidly evolving and may be useful for both researchers and clinicians; however, this new technology has not been tested for accuracy, reliability, or validity.

Objective: This study aims to test the accuracy of visual analog scale (VAS) for pain on a newly designed application on the iPad (iPadVAS) and measure the reliability and validity of iPadVAS compared to a paper copy (paperVAS).

Methods: Accuracy was determined by physically measuring an iPad scale on screen and comparing it to the results from the program, with a researcher collecting 101 data points.

Interactive Cognitive-Motor Step Training Improves Cognitive Risk Factors of Falling in Older Adults - A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: Interactive cognitive-motor training (ICMT) requires individuals to perform both gross motor movements and complex information processing. This study investigated the effectiveness of ICMT on cognitive functions associated with falls in older adults.

Methods: A single-blinded randomized controlled trial was conducted in community-dwelling older adults (N = 90, mean age 81.

Gait as a biomarker? Accelerometers reveal that reduced movement quality while walking is associated with Parkinson's disease, ageing and fall risk.

Humans are living longer but morbidity has also increased; threatening to create a serious global burden. Our approach is to monitor gait for early warning signs of morbidity. Here we present highlights from a series of experiments into gait as a potential biomarker for Parkinson's disease (PD), ageing and fall risk.

Symmetry matched auditory cues improve gait steadiness in most people with Parkinson's disease but not in healthy older people.

Background: Unsteady gait and falls are major problems for people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Symmetric auditory cues at altered cadences have been used to improve walking speed or step length. However, few people are exactly symmetric in terms of morphology or movement patterns and effects of symmetric cueing on gait steadiness are inconclusive.

Visuospatial tasks affect locomotor control more than nonspatial tasks in older people.

Background: Previous research has shown that visuospatial processing requiring working memory is particularly important for balance control during standing and stepping, and that limited spatial encoding contributes to increased interference in postural control dual tasks. However, visuospatial involvement during locomotion has not been directly determined. This study examined the effects of a visuospatial cognitive task versus a nonspatial cognitive task on gait speed, smoothness and variability in older people, while controlling for task difficulty.

Good lateral harmonic stability combined with adequate gait speed is required for low fall risk in older people.

Background: Good lateral harmonic stability in gait may be important for minimising fall risk in older people because many falls occur during walking when the base of support is narrowest in the mediolateral (ML) direction. However, the traditional ML harmonic ratio (MLHR) may be a sub-optimal measure of gait quality because of insufficient frequency resolution.

Objective: The primary objective was to investigate if a new measure of lateral harmonic stability, the 8-step MLHR, could discriminate older fallers from non-fallers while taking different walking speeds into account.

A Stroop Stepping Test (SST) using low-cost computer game technology discriminates between older fallers and non-fallers.

Background: impaired stepping and reduced cognitive functioning have both been identified as fall-risk factors in older people. We developed a Stroop Stepping Test (SST) that combines stepping and response inhibition using low-cost computer game technology to provide a functional measure that reflects real-life behaviour and determined whether this test discriminates between older fallers and non-fallers.

Methods: a cross-sectional study, including 103-independent living cognitively intact older people (70-93 years), was conducted.

Step Training System: an ICT solution to measure and reduce fall risk in older adults.

Falls in older adults are a significant public heath issue with over 1/3 community-dwelling people aged 65 and over falling each year, many of them multiple times. We have developed and evaluated a set top box PC solution for delivering both fall risk assessment and fall risk reduction programs into the home. Preliminary field tests show that older adults engage with the system but that barriers to maintained use of the system do exist.

A randomized controlled pilot study of home-based step training in older people using videogame technology.

Background: Stepping impairments are associated with physical and cognitive decline in older adults and increased fall risk. Exercise interventions can reduce fall risk, but adherence is often low. A new exergame involving step training may provide an enjoyable exercise alternative for preventing falls in older people.