Our purpose is to purchase a motion capture system that will modernize and advance our shared central core facility, the Motion Study Lab of the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center at Case Western Reserve University located in the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, clinical affiliates of the School of Medicine at Case. As we employ our current system in more demanding protocols that benefit those with movement disabilities and pathologies, we have discovered that the system's limitations negatively impact the time demands of the participants and the engineering staff. It is thus imperative to replace our obsolete system to ensure uninterrupted data collection, efficiently facilitate computationally intense data processing and provide for a greater number of shared-use projects among us and within the rich and extensive local research community that concentrates on musculoskeletal health and motor control. This community includes four nationally recognized institutions: Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, the Department of Veteran Affairs, and MetroHealth Medical Center. The replacement of our current instrumentation is critical because it is 15 years old and the manufacturer is cannot service or restore the equipment. Their last available replacement unit was installed in our laboratory nine months ago. Furthermore, purchasing this equipment is impossible via a conventional granting mechanism due to the extensive expense. This new equipment will achieve our long-term objectives of developing sophisticated musculoskeletal controllers for surface and implanted FES systems and adding real-time biofeedback capabilities to extend our current protocols. ? ? A system that captures motion is a mainstay of human biomechanics research. Assessing human movement mechanics using real-time technology and biofeedback protocols is critical to further the development of innovative neuroprostheses that will enhance the quality of life of individuals with a disability or pathology. For example, designing and testing novel controllers for neuroprostheses demands that motion capture be accomplished in real-time and have robust data collection and processing specifications. ? ? ?
