Impact of Equipment Purchase on VA funded research. Recovery of walking function is one of the highest priorities of neurological rehabilitation. For over ten years, the Brain Rehabilitation Research Center (BRRC) has been the epicenter of VA-funded research into the mechanism and recovery of walking function at the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center. Most of this research was accomplished in the BRRC's Human Motor Performance Lab (HMPL) using instrumented treadmills that measure biomechanical features of gait. However, definitive research from our own investigations and others in the field now demonstrates that treadmill walking is an inadequate surrogate for quantifying the true impairments and/or recovery of everyday walking, which occurs overground. In order for the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center to remain at the forefront of walking rehabilitation research, it is essential that we have the capability to accurately measure the biomechanics of overground walking. This capability will greatly enhance our ability to compete for grant funding, and thereby advance the science of recovery for neurologically injured Veterans. Proposal Objective: Purchase and install the Optima HPS force platforms in the Human Motor Performance Lab, for shared use. The Optima HPS will enable us to measure the three- dimensional biomechanics of overground walking. These force platforms will be used extensively by the six full-time research investigators, and expected new investigators that comprise the BRRC's Locomotor Research Initiative. Additional expected users are VA colleagues inside and outside of the BRRC and UF colleagues in the Departments of Neurology, Physical Therapy, Aging and Geriatric Research, Biomedical Engineering, and Applied Physiology/Kinesiology. Equipment Description. The requested equipment is the Optima Human Performance System (HPS), an array of force-platforms for gait kinetic data acquisition during overground walking, manufactured by Advanced Mechanical Technology, Inc. (AMTI). Mounting rails and installation service (both provided by AMTI) are included in this request because they are necessary for providing a sufficiently flat and rigid mounting surface and precision calibration. An Optima HPS force platform contains the following: signal conditioner, 9 meters of cabling, resin kit, and mounting hardware. The system has the capacity to measure a maximum vertical force of 2000lb (8900N) and a maximum lateral force of 1000lb (4450N), maximum thresholds required to measure GRF's during human locomotion and balance activities. Six signals are measured by the platform (force and moment X, Y and Z components. Administration and Usage. The National VA, RR&D, Brain Rehabilitation Research Center of Excellence (BRRC) will house the equipment in its Human Motor Performance Laboratory (HMPL), where it has successfully maintained and equitably managed the use of its research equipment for the past decade for shared used among VA investigators. The Medical Center is solidly in support of the BRRC and its research, most especially its shared equipment and laboratory resources.
The purchase of the Optima HPS will provides VA investigators with the ability to measure 3-D biomechanics during over-ground walking. These 3-D over-ground walking data are crucial to our ability to understand mechanisms and recovery of walking in the 'real world'. The Optima HPS will improve our science, the discovery and testing of new, innovative gait recovery treatments, and will improve the well-being of Veterans with neurological impairments of walking.
