Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

The design and validation of a magnetic resonance imaging-compatible device for obtaining mechanical properties of plantar soft tissue via gated acquisition
Changes in the mechanical properties of the plantar soft tissue in people with diabetes may contribute to the formation of plantar ulcers. Such ulcers have been shown to be in the causal pathway for lower extremity amputation. The hydraulic plantar soft tissue reducer (HyPSTER) was designed to measure in vivo, rate-dependent plantar soft tissue compressive force and three-dimensional deformations to help understand, predict, and prevent ulcer formation. These patient-specific values can then be used in an inverse finite element analysis to determine tissue moduli, and subsequently used in a foot model to show regions of hi...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 24, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Williams, E. D., Stebbins, M. J., Cavanagh, P. R., Haynor, D. R., Chu, B., Fassbind, M. J., Isvilanonda, V., Ledoux, W. R. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

Biaxial stress relaxation of semilunar heart valve leaflets during simulated collagen catabolism: Effects of collagenase concentration and equibiaxial strain state
In this study, the effects of equibiaxial strain state on collagen catabolism were investigated in porcine aortic valve and pulmonary valve tissues. Bacterial collagenase (0.2 and 0.5 mg/mL) was utilized to simulate endogenous matrix metalloproteinases, and biaxial stress relaxation and biochemical collagen concentration served as functional and compositional measures of collagen catabolism, respectively. At a collagenase concentration of 0.5 mg/mL, increasing the equibiaxial strain imposed during stress relaxation (0%, 37.5%, and 50%) yielded significantly lower median collagen concentrations in the aortic valve (p = 0.02...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 24, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Huang, S., Huang, H.-Y. S. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

Investigation of the mechanical behaviour of the plantar soft tissue during gait cycle: Experimental and numerical activities
The aim of this work is to investigate the mechanical response of the plantar soft tissue from the heel strike to the midstance, developing both experimental and numerical activities. Using force plates and motion tracking system, the dynamic and kinematic data of 10 subjects are evaluated. The average kinematics data obtained from the experimental tests are assumed as boundary and loading conditions for the computational analyses. A three-dimensional virtual solid model of the foot is developed from the analysis of Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine images from computed tomography and magnetic resonance. Const...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 24, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Fontanella, C. G., Forestiero, A., Carniel, E. L., Natali, A. N. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

Extension of D-H parameter method to hybrid manipulators used in robot-assisted surgery
The main focus of this work is to extend the applicability of D-H parameter method to develop a kinematic model of a hybrid manipulator. A hybrid manipulator is a combination of open- and closed-loop chains and contains planar and spatial links. It has been found in the literature that D-H parameter method leads to ambiguities, when dealing with closed-loop chains. In this work, it has been observed that the D-H parameter method, when applied to a hybrid manipulator, results in an orientational inconsistency, because of which the method cannot be used to develop the kinematic model. In this article, the concept of dummy fr...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 24, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Singh, A., Singla, A., Soni, S. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

A preliminary study on surgical navigation for epiduroscopic laser neural decompression
Epiduroscopic laser neural decompression is an emerging therapeutic modality to treat lumbar spine pathologies including chronic low back pain, spinal stenosis, and disk herniation via catheter insertion followed by laser ablation of the lesion. Despite the efficacy of epiduroscopic laser neural decompression, excessive radiation doses due to fluoroscopy during epiduroscopic laser neural decompression have limited its widespread application. To address the issue, we propose a surgical navigation system to assist in epiduroscopic laser neural decompression procedures using radiation-free image guidance. An electromagnetic t...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 24, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Jeon, S., Lee, G. W., Jeon, Y. D., Park, I.-H., Hong, J., Kim, J.-D. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

Corrigendum
Hui-Min Shen, Liang Hu, Kok-Meng Lee and Xin Fu. Multi-motion robots control based on bioelectric signals from single-channel dry-electrode. Proc IMechE Part H: J Engineering in Medicine. 2015; 229(2): 124–136. (Original doi: 10.1177/0954411915570079) An article in the February 2015 issue contained an error from the authors. Recently, we discovered that there is a mistake in Fig. 3(a) of the published paper listed below: The second to the fourth labels of the time-axis, which are "0.1, 0.2 and 0.3", should be "0.5, 1.0 and 1.5". (Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine)
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 1, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Tags: Corrigendum Source Type: research

Wearable Virtual White Cane Network for navigating people with visual impairment
Navigating the world with visual impairments presents inconveniences and safety concerns. Although a traditional white cane is the most commonly used mobility aid due to its low cost and acceptable functionality, electronic traveling aids can provide more functionality as well as additional benefits. The Wearable Virtual Cane Network is an electronic traveling aid that utilizes ultrasound sonar technology to scan the surrounding environment for spatial information. The Wearable Virtual Cane Network is composed of four sensing nodes: one on each of the user’s wrists, one on the waist, and one on the ankle. The Wearabl...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 1, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Gao, Y., Chandrawanshi, R., Nau, A. C., Tse, Z. T. H. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

Influence of a micro-thread at cervical position and a cylindrical intermediate zone on the mechanical behaviour of dental implants: A three-dimensional finite element analysis
The purpose of this work is to analyse the influence on the biomechanical behaviour of dental implants of a micro-thread at their cervical part as well as of a cylindrical geometry at an intermediate zone. Stresses and strains in the elements involved, that is, bone, implant, screw and abutment, have to be considered in detail. Three different three-dimensional finite element models are generated to analyse the behaviour of the various components under the so-called tightening and operating conditions. For the modelling, material specifications for the cancellous bone and cortical bone, on one hand, and titanium properties...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 1, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Garitaonaindia, U., Alcaraz, J. L. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

Design, analysis and control of a novel tendon-driven magnetic resonance-guided robotic system for minimally invasive breast surgery
Biopsy and brachytherapy for small core breast cancer are always difficult medical problems in the field of cancer treatment. This research mainly develops a magnetic resonance imaging–guided high-precision robotic system for breast puncture treatment. First, a 5-degree-of-freedom tendon-based surgical robotic system is introduced in detail. What follows are the kinematic analysis and dynamical modeling of the robotic system, where a mathematic dynamic model is established using the Lagrange method and a lumped parameter tendon model is used to identify the nonlinear gain of the tendon-sheath transmission system. Bas...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 1, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Jiang, S., Lou, J., Yang, Z., Dai, J., Yu, Y. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

Braided tubular superelastic cables provide improved spinal stability compared to multifilament sublaminar cables
This study investigates the use of braided tubular superelastic cables, previously used for sternum closure following sternotomy, as sublaminar fixation method. It compares the biomechanical performance of spinal instrumentation fixation systems with regular sublaminar cables and proprietary superelastic cables. A hybrid experimental protocol was applied to six porcine L1–L4 spinal segments to compare multifilament sublaminar cables (Atlas, Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Memphis, TN) with proprietary superelastic cables. First, intact total range of motion was determined for all specimens using pure moment loading. Second,...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 1, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Tremblay, J., Mac-Thiong, J.-M., Brailovski, V., Petit, Y. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

Degradation of postural control with aging
Aging negatively impacts the ability to maintain postural stability due to degraded control systems. The entropic half-life, a non-linear variable that quantifies the transition of sample entropy with increasing time scales, quantifies the time that elapses before old positional information no longer influences, or is no longer related to, the control mechanisms that regulate the movement at the current center of pressure location. The entropic half-life provides a more representative and comprehendible way of detecting changes in complexity using measurement units of time. The purpose of this study was to determine the ef...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 1, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Baltich, J., von Tscharner, V., Nigg, B. M. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

A visual servo-based teleoperation robot system for closed diaphyseal fracture reduction
Common fracture treatments include open reduction and intramedullary nailing technology. However, these methods have disadvantages such as intraoperative X-ray radiation, delayed union or nonunion and postoperative rotation. Robots provide a novel solution to the aforementioned problems while posing new challenges. Against this scientific background, we develop a visual servo-based teleoperation robot system. In this article, we present a robot system, analyze the visual servo-based control system in detail and develop path planning for fracture reduction, inverse kinematics, and output forces of the reduction mechanism. A...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 1, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Li, C., Wang, T., Hu, L., Zhang, L., Du, H., Zhao, L., Wang, L., Tang, P. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

Wear assessments of a new cervical spinal disk prosthesis: Influence of loading and kinematic patterns during in vitro wear simulation
Surgical treatment is one of the effective methods of treatment in cervical spondylosis. The traditional method of operation is decompression fusion; however, this surgery results in restricted movement of cervical vertebra and adjacent segment degeneration. Due to the deficiency of traditional surgery, scholars have widely carried out artificial cervical disk replacement surgery and have achieved good clinical effects. Comparing to the characteristics of the common artificial cervical disk which is used frequently, we developed a new artificial cervical intervertebral disk prosthesis. The purpose of this study was to dete...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 1, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Wu, W., Lyu, J., Liu, H., Rong, X., Wang, B., Hong, Y., Gong, Q., Li, T., Liu, L., Song, Y., Cai, Y., Xu, W. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

The increase in cobalt release in metal-on-polyethylene hip bearings in tests with third body abrasives
This study considered four 28 mm and seven 52 mm diameter metal-on-polyethylene bearings tested following ISO standard hip simulator conditions as well as under established abrasive conditions. These tests showed measurable cobalt in all bearings under standard conditions. Cobalt release, as well as polyethylene wear, increased with diameter, increasing from 52 to 255 ppb. The introduction of bone cement particles into the articulation doubled polyethylene wear and cobalt release while alumina particles produced significant damage on the heads demonstrated by cobalt levels of 70,700 ppb and an increased polyethylene wear f...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - September 1, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: de Villiers, D., Traynor, A., Collins, S. N., Shelton, J. C. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research

Head injury predictors in sports trauma - A state-of-the-art review
Head injuries occur in a great variety of sports. Many of these have been associated with neurological injuries, affecting the central nervous system. Some examples are motorsports, cycling, skiing, horse riding, mountaineering and most contact sports such as football, ice and field hockey, soccer, lacrosse, etc. The outcome of head impacts in these sports can be very severe. The worst-case scenarios of permanent disability or even death are possibilities. Over recent decades, many In recent decades, a great number of head injury criteria and respective thresholds have been proposed. However, the available information is m...
Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine - August 3, 2015 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Fernandes, F. A., Sousa, R. J. A. d. Tags: Review Article Source Type: research