Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Individuals live an average of 36 years with a musculoskeletal injury, the longest-lasting health impact of any disease. This makes the identification of injury initiation and, ultimately, the prevention of these injuries crucial for Canadians and all industrialized nations. A primary goal of our research team is to evaluate tissue injury in response to high-loading exposures. Force measurement during physiological acute loading exposures provides insight into the applied loads and how injuries or disease initiate; however, a significant barrier exists in the ability to map areas of applied load and document specific areas of high force concentration linking to injury progression. Pressure mapping technology is a noninvasive technique that utilizes a thin, flexible sensor to measure the interface pressure between two surfaces. These sensors can reveal unique information regarding force distributions across a region of interest rather than a traditional gross force measurement through a single load cell. Until recently, pressure mapping techniques have been mainly limited to investigations surrounding comfort and low-level loading scenarios. Significant pressure sampling rate limitations have made this technology unusable during high-rate loading events. Substantial advances in pressure mapping technology have recently been made, including increased high-speed sampling rates and improved spatial resolution. Thus, making these devices a promising option for evaluating injury mechanisms during high-rate loading events. As such, this RTI proposal is requesting funds for a versatile, high-speed pressure mapping system with pressure sampling rates up to 20 kHz. This system consists of one 8-port hub, with the ability to connect eight different pressure handles, with each handle connecting to a pressure mapping sensor. The proposed equipment is crucial to the work of at least six investigators at UBC requiring access to rapid pressure mapping during high-rate loading events. The system will provide the ability to rapidly experiment with pressure mapping to refine fundamental force tracing linking to tissue injury and injury mechanics. The successful acquisition of the requested high-speed pressure mapping system will support quantitative injury characterization and assessment for injury prevention strategies as well as enabling further understanding of the mechanics surrounding lumbar spine injury, knee osteoarthritis and neural disorders. Over it's lifetime, the proposed equipment will enable training opportunities for approximately 90 highly qualified personnel, including graduate and undergraduate students. Students will receive training in biomechanical design, experimental research and engage in multi-disciplinary collaborations with clinical and industry partners. Industry, health care and government policy require these critical skills for designing and developing new injury prevention and clinical management processes.