Igor Gruić

Acute Effects of Gravitational Stretching in the Position of Modified Thomas Test on Changes in Range of Motion in Hip and Knee Joints

Optimal range of motion (ROM) in a joint can improve sports performance and decrease possibility of injury. In kinesiological practice, consisting of physical conditioning and kinesitherapy, ROM is most often achieved by stretching exercise. Modified Thomas Test (MTT) has not yet been used as an intervention for stretching to increase ROM, but only as a test for evaluation of ROM in hip&knee joints. The goal was to determine acute effects of intervention of gravitational stretching of two-joint and one-joint flexors of hip&knee on changes in ROM in the MTT position, by an objective measurement instrument, on young, physically active persons (n=54). Subjects were held in MTT position, and sole force leading to movement of hip&knee joints was a weight of tested extremity. Final results after the intervention were recorded. Identical procedure was repeated for the other extremity. Main results show that 120 seconds of gravitational stretching acutely increases ROM in the hip joint for 4.9° on average, while ROM in knee has decreased for 2.1° on average, and both results have shown statistical significance. MTT, as an intervention for stretching of one-joint hip flexors, is recomended, but not for two-joint flexors, which need another exercise to yield positive effects.

Application of Linear Programming on Example of Relationship between Two Types of Activity and Optimized Dietary Supplement Intake

Kinesiology, as a science on movement, can use reductive and constructive logic and tools to inspect, analyse and produce phenomena related to human, activity. Deterministic and stochastic nature of kinanthropological phenomena are often analysed by complex statistical methods. Application of linear programming for optimization in producing simple decision and recommendation regarding intake of exact proportion of recovery dietary supplements complexes in two different activities (aerobic and anaerobic) revealed elegance of the method, and revealed prospective practical implication in sport practice, rehabilitation process, and in everyday life.

Pedobarographic Profile of Gait in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis

nkylosing spondylitis (AS) is chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease which predominantly affects sacroiliac joints and spine and, during course of time, may also alter posture, movement patterns and regulation and quality of life. Clinical diagnostic tools for assessment of AS internalizations complement different qualitative and quantitative methods. Externalisations of axial skeleton alterations, followed by hip, knee, ankle and foot joints posture and movement adjustments, are quantified by conservative biomechanical approach. Items representing functional status and disease activity in AS patients correlated to pedobarographic status were anchored to previous research, i.e. Doward et al., 2003 ; Grazio et al., 2009 ; Aydina et al., 2015 ; Giacomozzi, 2010 ; Gruic et al., 2015 ; Gruic et al., 2016. Contrary to previous findings, multiple correlation between clinical scores and dynamic pedobarographic measurements was established.

Comparison of Pedobarographic Profile in Young Males with Left and Right Scoliotic Posture

Background: Scoliosis alters both posture and gait. Pedobarography is a biomechanical method for assessing gait that has been rarely used in scoliosis-specific gait research. Objective: To determine differences between left and right scoliotic posture in plantar pressure and force gait profile among young males. Methods: Twenty-one young, trained males assigned to one of two groups: left scoliotic posture (LSP ; N=12) and right scoliotic posture (RSP ; N=9) group. Subjects were assigned to a group based on forward-bending test and controlled for age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), right and left leg length. All subjects were blinded for group they were assigned and study outcomes. Examiners were blinded for study outcomes. Subjects walked at self-selected speed along the 9, 5-meter-long walkway for 2 minutes. Plantar pressures and forces were measured using pedobarographic device Zebris medical FDM 1.5. Measured outcomes during gait included: Maximum force right foot (N), Maximum force left foot (N), Maximum force at first contact right foot (N), Maximum force at first contact left foot (N), Maximum force at take-off right foot (N), Maximum force at take-off left foot (N), Maximum forefoot force right foot (N), Maximum forefoot force left foot (N), Maximum midfoot force right foot (N), Maximum midfoot force left foot (N), Maximum heel force right foot (N), Maximum heel force left foot (N), Maximum forefoot pressure right foot (N/cm2), Maximum forefoot pressure left foot (N/cm2), Maximum midfoot pressure right foot (N/cm2), Maximum midfoot pressure left foot (N/cm2), Maximum heel pressure right foot (N/cm2), Maximum heel pressure left foot (N/cm2). Results: There were no significant differences in any observed foot pressure or force gait parameter between left and right scoliotic posture group (p<0, 05). Conclusion: Plantar pressure and force gait parameters seems to have no diagnostic value in determining scoliosis-specific gait. Focus should be shifted to other pedobarographic gait parameters (e.g. center of pressure, time-force parameters, etc.). Future research should investigate relationships between biomechanical movement compensation and neuromuscular, musculo- skeletal and genetic factors that may initiate scoliosis.

Development of Computer System for Digital Measurement of Human Body: Initial Findings

Background: Microsoft Kinect is used in the field of anthropometry (Sameijma et al., 2012 ; Xu et al., 2013 ; Clarkson et al., 2016 ; Zhang et al., 2015), gait analysis (Springer & Seligman, 2016 ; Pfister et al., 2014 ; Motiian et al., 2015 ; Prochazka et al., 2015 ; Cippitelli et al., 2015), motor performance (Lim et al., 2015 ; Sevick et al., 2016 ; Taha et. al., 2016), posture/balance evaluation (Dutta et al., 2014 ; Metiplay et al., 2013 ; Oh et al., 2014 ; Saenz-de-Urturi & Garcia- Zapirain Soto, 2016) and rehabilitation (Galna et al., 2014 ; Mobini et al., 2015 ; De Rosario et al., 2014 ; Shapi’i et al., 2015). Reliability of instruments in clinical and sport application differ, therefore the goal of this research was to initially determine the protocol of validation of a new measuring instrument for digital measurement of anthropometric dimensions of the body structural and metric). Reliability of results in this paper was tested on three classically and digitally measured anthropometric variables, i.e. height, left forearm length and left lower leg length. Methods: Male and female employees of the Technology Park Zagreb (N=52) volunteered for this research. Subjects were wearing their everyday clothes. Among 471 assessed variables (3 + ((26 * 6)) * 3) three variables from a set of classically measured anthropometric dimensions were extracted - height, length of left forearm and length of left lower leg. Classical measurements were conducted through standard IBP protocols, a Standardized protocol for digital measurement (DM- I) was produced. Data were analyzed by Statistica 12 for Windows operating system. Mean, standard deviation, range, variability coefficient, skewness and kurtosis were used as descriptive parameters, as well as Pearson correlation coefficient, Spearman-Brown alpha, Cronbach`s alpha and Spearman-Brown (standardized) alpha. Results: Classically and digitally measured height in average results do not differ significantly, while for lengths of the left forearm and the left lower leg do indicate significant differences (lower values). The differences could be attributed to different reference points used in two measurement methods. Measures of internal consistency (reliability) for digitally measured variables:height of the body, length of left forearm and length of left lower leg demonstrate high reliability (Cronbach alpha, the standardized alpha 0.995 to 0.997) and the average inter-item correlation (0.973 to 0.985), indicates a high internal consistency between items related to digitally measured height. Reliability was slightly lower for digitally measured length of the left forearm and lower leg due to greater differentiation in average interitem correlations coefficients. Conclusions: Digital measurements with Kinect are not appropriate for clinical trials demanding high precision. There is no statistical evidence that could differentiate distances of examinee from Kinect sensor in order to define optimal distance (as long as subject stands within Kinects range. Small errors occur due to clothing, possibly due to illumination, and sensor height and distance, which is in line with previous research.

Pedobarographic Features of Gait Measured by FDM1.5 PMD

Backgrounds: Main objective was to evaluate methods for assessment of pedobarographic features of gait using FDM1.5 pressure measuring device (PMD) within complete gait analysis, with regard to device, protocol&data analysis, specifically to basic morphology and certain distinctive characteristics. Methods: Protocol was standardized for descriptive&inferential statistical methods (63 quantitative variables). Participants characteristics (n=22; 13 male&9 female): age 14-35 y.o., average 172,56cm body height, average 73.11kg body mass (19.47 BMI), with minimum of 5 years of regular sport&recreational activities. Results: Protocol output was consistent for repeated measurement of an individual. Tested differences between genders, before&after ‘partialization’ of results (excluded influence of longitudinal dimensionality), in both cases reveal significance in: Stride width (t_GSW=4.15), Step time_L (t_TSTL=2.88), Step time_R (t_TSTR=3.59), bilateral asymmetry in Step time (t_TST_D=3.32), Cadence (t_TC=-3.44) on p<0.01 level, and Ant/Post position (t_BAP=2.33), bilateral asymmetry in Time to change heel to forefoot(t_LTP_D=2.26), Time maximum force Midfoot_D % of stance time (t_TMAXM=2.33), and bilateral asymmetry in Contact time Heel (t_CH_D=2.33), on p<0.05 level. Differences in barefoot/footwear gait were specially expressed in variable MAXPH (t= -8.84, p<0.05). Conclusions: Statistical tools, such as partializations of the results by specific characteristic which tend to increase heterogeneity, may standardize&improve the power of the protocol and method.