Sharif Digital Repository

We have recently designed/fabricated novel bilateral vertebra- and patient-specific drill guides for pedicle screw (PS) placements and tested their accuracy for both nondeformed and deformed thoracic spines. PS placement deviations from their preplanned positions significantly reduced when guide template were used; the success rate improved from ~72% (freehand placements) to 94% (guided placements). In the present study, we aim to use finite element (FE) analyses to evaluate the pull-out strength of these PSs inserted via either the freehand technique or our drill-guide templates. Two 3D-printed T1-T12 thoracic models of a severe scoliosis patient with a 47° thoracic dextro-scoliotic curve... 

Body posture is an essential input of musculoskeletal models that evaluate spinal loads in occupational activities. Posture is either measured in vivo via video-camera motion capture systems or predicted via artificial neural networks (ANNs) [1]. As video-camera measurements are impractical for use in real workstations, we have recently developed an ANN that predicts full-body posture during one- and two-handed static load-handling activities. This ANN, trained based on the posture data of 20 subjects each performing 204 static load-handling activities, uses 3D coordinates of the hand-load, body weight, and body height of the worker to predict 3D coordinates of 41 full-body skin markers. The... 

Posterior lumbar surgery is often associated with extensive injuries to back muscles. In this thesis, the effect of such iatrogenic injuries in some patients was examined. For this purpose, the CSA of back muscles in 6 patients were measured using MR scan. To examine any natural change in CSAs of healthy people or instrument errors, same measurement were carried out on 10 healthy volunteers. In addition, a detailed anatomical model of an intact human spine was developed. With the aim of experimental studies and intact model, the post-operative model of patients was also developed. These two models were used to quantizing the change in activity of back muscles during some symmetric, normal... 

Low back pains (LBP) are prevalent and costly. One of the important factors causing LBP is excessive axial compression and shear forces that are applied on the intervertebral discs during different activities. Due to lack of direct in vivo measurement methods for estimating these loads, musculoskeletal biomechanical models have been emerged as indispensable tools under various activities. Different biomechanical models have been suggested to estimate muscle forces and spinal loads base on optimization, EMG and hybrid (EMG assisted optimization, EMGAO) methods. Although there have been a number of studies on the differences between various optimization and EMG-based methods, there has been no... 

The 1991 NIOSH Lifting Equation (NLE) is widely used to assess risk of injury to the spine by providing estimates of the recommended weight limit (RWL) in hands. The present study uses two biomechanical models of the spine to verify whether the RWL generates L5-S1 loads within the limits (e.g., 3400 N for compression recommended by NIOSH and 1000 N for shear recommended in some studies).Severallifting activities are simulated here to evaluate the RWL by the NLE and the L5-S1 loads by the models. In lifting activities involving moderate to large forward trunk flexion, the estimated RWL generates L5-S1 spine loads exceeding the recommended limits. The NIOSH vertical multiplier is the likely... 

Direct in vivo measurements of spinal loads and muscle forces are invasive. Investigators have thus used musculoskeletal biomechanical models that require kinematic data including trunk and pelvis angular movements as their inputs. . Novel devices measure anglular movements using both inertial sensors (such as gyroscopes and accelerometers) and miniature magnetometers. Relative low cost, portability, and accuracy are among specific characteristics of inertial tracking devices. The main objective of the present study was set to measure spinal kinematics including the lumbopelvic rhythm as the ratio of total lumbar rotation over pelvic rotation during trunk sagittal movement which is essential... 

Range of motion (ROM) of the thoracic spine has implications in patient discrimination for diagnostic purposes and in biomechanical models for predictions of spinal loads. Few previous studies have reported quite different thoracic ROMs. Total (T1-T12), lower (T5-T12) and upper (T1-T5) thoracic, lumbar (T12-S1), pelvis, and entire trunk (T1) ROMs were measured using an inertial tracking device as asymptomatic subjects flexed forward from their neutral upright position to full forward flexion. Correlations between body height and the ROMs were conducted. Effect of measurement errors of the trunk flexion (T1) on the model-predicted spinal loads was investigated. Mean of peak voluntary total... 

Etiological studies proves the fact that Low Back Pain (LBP) is one of the most expensive and prevalent desease all over the world. This fact illustrates the reqiurment of the special effort in ordet to reducing the pain due to this problem. Finite element modeling of human spine is one the suitable methods to simulate the behavior of human spine in different loading conditions. These conditions could be different daily occupational tasks. There is two general viewpoint toward finite element modeling of human spine. The fisrt method focuses on the detailed geometry and mechanical properties of spine, while the other complexities such as detailed muscle forces are overlooked. The latter... 

Musculoskeletal abnormalities affect joints and change their range of motion (RoM). Correcting these abnormalities thoroughly depends on the information related to the normal spine movement. Therefore, spine motion analysis can be used as an important tool to distinguish between healthy and patient individuals as well as to determine the intensity of such diseases. Additionally, existing biomechanical models need kinematics data in order to analyze spinal forces. The present study hence aims to measure 3D range of motion of thoracic and lumbar spine using inertial sensors. Their small size, portability, low weight, and relatively low cost make inertial sensors as indispensable tools in... 

The spine like every other mechanical pillar, is exposed to buckling and loss of stability. While existing biomechanical models emphasize the pressure force on the disk as the main cause of injury, there is also a possibility of local buckling phenomenon in vertebral discs. Because of the prevalence and high cost of lower back pain, it is essential to evaluate the forces carried by disks and lumbar muscles during occupational activities more accurately. In this regard, hybrid EMG-assisted optimization (EMGAO) approaches are most common methods for estimation of spinal loads. These models, not only use EMG data to be physiologically creditable, but also satisfy equilibrium requirements at all... 

There is a large, at times contradictory body of investigations relating low back pain and spinal curvature in sagittal plane. The previous studies have not been subject-specified, and they have not considered the active tissues in the models. The mechanical load has a significant impact on the prevalence of low back pain and the geometry of lumbar spine in the sagittal plane is one of the most important characteristics in determining the load sharing of the spine. Thus, it is essential to know how the geometry load affects the load sharing of the lumbar spine. As a matter of fact, the purpose of this project is to know how the geometry of the lumbar spine affects the load sharing. Thus,... 

Low back pain is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal injuries in occupational activities. In order to reduce or prevent it, it is necessary to estimate the mechanical loads of body joints. Direct measurement of spinal loads is invasive and costly. Therefore, musculoskeletal modeling is a convenient tool in estimation of joints and muscles loads that often uses kinematics information as input.Marker-based motion capture systems are one of the most common ways for the estimation of body kinematics. Unfortunately, they are time consuming and expensive. Thus being marker-free and low-cost, Microsoft Kinect is a suitable alternative. Recent studies often have investigated accuracy of... 

According to epidemiological studies, low back pain is the most prevalent musculoskeletal disease thus indicating the important role of biomechanical engineers to manage risk of injury. Different quantitative (i.e., biomechanical models) and qualitative (empirical) assessment tools are used to evaluate risk of musculoskeletal injuries. The present study uses various quantitative and qualitative risk assessment tools to investigate the risk of injury among workers in Iran Khodro Automaker company (IKCO) assembly hall No. 3 (Pars Peugeot car assembly). Moreover, different engineering and administrative interventions are suggested to manage risk of musculoskeletal injuries when needed. The... 

Objective: To assess adequacy of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Lifting Equation (NLE) in controlling lumbar spine loads below their recommended action limits during load-handling activities in the stoop and squat using a detailed musculoskeletal model,that is, the AnyBody Modeling System.Background: The NIOSH committee employed simplistic biomechanical models for the calculation of the spine compressive loads with no estimates of the shear loads. In addition, NLE does not include the posture of the knee during manual material handling. It is therefore unknown whether the NLE would adequately control lumbar compression and shear loads below their... 

Biomechanical models require body posture to evaluate the risk of musculoskeletal injuries during daily/occupational activities like manual material handling (MMH). The procedure to measure body posture via motion-analysis techniques is complex, time-consuming, and limited to equipped laboratories. This study aims to develop an easy-to-use yet accurate model that predict human whole-body static posture (3D body coordinates and anatomical joint angles) during different MMH activities. Twenty healthy male right-handed individuals with body mass index between 18 and 26 performed 204 symmetric and asymmetric MMH activities. Each person reached (i.e., without any load in hands) the destinations... 

Ground reaction forces (GRFs) and their centers of pressure (CoPs) are essential inputs in musculoskeletal models of the spine that study load-lifting tasks. While GRFs and CoPs are usually measured in vivo via force-plates, they can be predicted based on motion equations, developed in AnyBody Modelling System (AMS) thus eliminating the need for laboratory equipment and in vivo measurements. This study aims to develop an easy-to-use yet accurate model that predict GRFs and CoPs during different Manual Material Handling (MMH) activities using AnyBody Modelling System and artificial neural networks. First, the accuracy of the AMS GRF prediction algorithm was evaluated for 8 normal- and 4... 

Wound healing is a complex biological process dependent on multiple variables: tissue oxygenation, wound size, contamination, etc. Many of these factors depend on multiple factors themselves. Mechanisms for some interactions between these factors are still unknown. In this resarch we try to simulate and control wound healing process with focusing on remodeling phase by neural networks as an intelligence technique. For these purposes some materials like mathematical modeling, finite elements method, and effect of external forces on the scar tissue are used here  

Diabetes is a global problem as a silent epidemic disorder. Diabetes Mellitus has involved at least five percent of our population. It will cause so many complications and end-organs effects if it is not controlled. Today, treatment and control of diseases using computational intelligent systems has been paid a lot of attention to. That’s why this study has taken treatment and control of diabetes into consideration. So, the neural networks have been used to manage and treat diabetes. To do this, real data from diabetic patients has been gathered and based on the data, a model has been obtained to show the effect of insulin on the amount of blood glucose. Then, a neural network controller has... 

Mobile robots are increasingly being used to perform tasks in unknown environments. The potential of robots to undertake such tasks lies in their ability to intelligently and efficiently locate and interact with objects in their environment. My research focuses on developing algorithms to navigate mobile robots in a partially known environment observed by an overhead camera. The environment consists of stationary and dynamic obstacles and a moving target. The aim of the robot is to select avoidance maneuvers to avoid the dynamic obstacles while approaching the target. The core of the navigation algorithm is based on the velocity obstacle avoidance method and the guidance-based tracking... 

Mental disorders are very common nowadays and affect a person’s everyday life, as well as the lives of other people around him/her. According to the World Health Organization, major depressive disorder (MDD) is considered as the fourth main cause of death and premature weakness in the whole world. Information Technology (IT) could be used to diagnose the people who are affected by the mental disorders as well as reduce their effects. As clinical decision making inherently requires reasoning under uncertainty, fuzzy logic is a suitable technique for dealing with this partial evidence. The fuzzy logic is the science of reasoning; thinking and inference that recognizes and uses the real world...