The long-term goal of this project is to expand the usage and scope of clinical testing of musculoskeletal function in a practical and clinically meaningful manner. Musculoskeletal conditions are among the most frequently occurring medical problems reported in the United States. The problem is becoming more prevalent with an aging population. While treatment modalities are more sophisticated, methods for evaluation of function are quite limited. The specific goal of this project is to expand the capabilities of current methodology by applying a newly developed point-cluster technique. This point-cluster technique represents a novel approach to the measurement of complex movement of the body from markers placed on the skin. The method provides a potentially more accurate and reproducible measure of three-dimensional segmental movement than any other method where markers are placed on the skin. A key aspect of the development is the utilization of a gray level video-based system to facilitate the automatic identification and tracking of points located within the cluster. This task will bc accomplished by a binary encoded point-cluster matrix. The technique will also be evaluated for reliability and validity on a test population of normal subjects. The successful implementation of this development will expand the viable usage of clinical functional testing to a wider range of clinical conditions including problems of the lower back which represent a substantial portion of problems encountered with the musculoskeletal system. Thus, a system with this technique would be commercially viable because of its wide range of applications.
This research will provide a tool which can be used for a number of clinical applications. In particular, it will expand the scope of the current clinical system into the area of the analysis of patients with back problems. This patient population represents a substantial increase in the scope of the use of the clinical system.
