Session: 07-08-01: Biomedical Devices, Sensors, and Actuators I

Paper Number: 166896

Evaluate the Influence of Heel Lifts on Stiffness in the Achilles Tendon Using Cost Effective In-Vivo Elastography 

Heel elevation can help provide relief for tendinitis, particularly in the lower body, such as in the Achilles tendon. Elevating the heel can help reduce swelling and inflammation around the affected tendon by promoting drainage of fluids away from the area. By raising the heel, some of the pressure is taken off of the affected tendon, allowing it to rest and heal. Elevation may improve blood circulation, which can accelerate the healing process of injured tissue. Heel elevation may also help adjust the alignment of leg and reduce stress on the tendon when resting or sitting. Maintaining optimal Achilles tendon stiffness is a key factor for both preventing injuries and maximizing athletic performance. Monitoring and managing tendon stiffness is important during rehabilitation from injuries or during training. Adjustments in stiffness can help in tailoring rehabilitation programs or optimizing training regimens for better performance and recovery. Current imaging techniques for assessing AT injuries in the resting state are conventional ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). But by themselves, these techniques can only assess AT’s morphological changes and not its elastic properties (e.g., stiffness). We have already developed the accelerometer-based SURF-E (Surface Elastography) technique, but we need to refine and enhance its functionalities in terms of repeatability, portability and ease of use. It will be a low-cost alternative to using expensive Ultrasound and MRI imaging techniques. One long term benefit of this proposed research will be the optimization of a simple, affordable, portable, and noninvasive technique to quantify in-vivo spatial variations of an Achilles Tendon’s (AT’s) viscoelastic properties. This would potentially improve and simplify the objective clinical diagnosis of AT injuries and the monitoring of AT’s healing and mechanical recovery for injured patients. This new SURF-E (Surface Elastography) wave propagation technique will be used to diagnose the tendon stiffness. It will be implemented by a stand-alone device which will be a very powerful tool for diagnosing the health of AT. This would improve the diagnosis and prognosis of AT’s injured areas associated with local changes in AT stiffness.  This SURF-E technique will be used to better understand the biomechanics of AT mechanical properties in response to acute loading which would have important implications for risk assessment, injury prevention, rehabilitation, and physical/athletic performance. Hence, this SURF-E method would assist clinicians for assessing injury risk, selecting patient-specific treatment plans for tendinopathy, and monitoring the efficiency of therapeutic exercise program. This improvement would ultimately ensure a faster recovery, reduce the risk of reinjury, and thus diminish health care costs associated with the exponentially increasing number of AT injuries. Another broader impact of this research would be to involve undergraduate students in this research. They will participate in designing experimental setups, trained to write an IRB (institutional Review Board) proposal, setting the proper protocol for consistency in subjects’ data collections and analyzing the data from the muscles/tendons using this SURF-E technique. The Achilles tendon is crucial for activities involving running, jumping, and sudden changes in direction. Proper stiffness helps absorb and distribute the forces generated during these activities, reducing the risk of injuries such as tendonitis or ruptures. Maintaining optimal Achilles tendon stiffness is a key factor for both preventing injuries and maximizing athletic performance.

Presenting Author: Muhammad Salman Kennesaw State University

Presenting Author Biography: Hello! I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Kennesaw State University. After the PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Fall 2012, I have the honor to serve the School of Engineering, Southern Polytechnic State University which merged into the Kennesaw State University in 2015. I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. Teaching is my passion and I enjoy my profession.

I conduct experimental research on human skeletal muscles and tendons in the field of biomechanics. My main research focus is dynamics and vibrations in human body bio-mechanics. Mechanical properties of human skeletal muscles/tendons, such as muscle/tendon stiffness (E) are found using a low cost surface wave and shear wave method.

Authors:

Muhammad Salman Kennesaw State University
Geza Kogler Kennesaw State University