Knee biomechanics walking on railroad ballast and the associated risk factors for knee osteoarthritis

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Title Knee biomechanics walking on railroad ballast and the associated risk factors for knee osteoarthritis
Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Engineering
Department Mechanical Engineering
Author Quincy, Joshua
Date 2010-03-12
Description Walking is an important part of everyday life. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a musculoskeletal disorder affecting approximately 20% of adults. The knee is the joint most commonly affected by OA. Knee OA can create severe functional limitations and a decreased quality of life. Walking on crushed rock aggregate is a common and necessary part of the duties of some railroad workers. There is little research describing the increased risks for OA that could be associated with walking on crushed rock aggregate. To measure the external biomechanics at the knee two adjustable tracks were constructed, one with main-line (large) ballast and the other with yard (small) ballast. One of the tracks was modified to represent a normal walking surface. The tracks had an adjustable transverse plane slope. Two slope conditions were used, normal flat condition and 7° sloped condition. Data were collected from 10 railroad workers walking on three surfaces. Data were collected for both conditions on each of the surfaces. Data were collected for both the uphill and downhill knees. Knee kinematic and kinetic data were recorded. The external knee rotation is greatest on large ballast. The knee adduction moments are greatest for the downhill knee on the hard surface sloped condition. The uphill knee has the smallest knee adduction moments. Additional models and further testing are needed to better understand joint loading while walking on crushed rock aggregate.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Musculoskeletal disorders
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name MS
Language eng
Relation is Version of Digital reproduction of "Knee biomechanics walking on railroad ballast and the associated risk factors for knee osteoarthritis," J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections QP6.5 2010 .Q56
Rights Management (c) Joshua Quincy, To comply with copyright, the file for this work may be restricted to The University of Utah campus libraries pending author permission.
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 2,873,592 bytes
Identifier us-etd2,148192
Source Original: University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections
Conversion Specifications Original scanned on Epson GT-30000 as 400 dpi to pdf using ABBYY FineReader 9.0 Professional Edition.
ARK ark:/87278/s63n2j0c
Setname ir_etd
ID 193661
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s63n2j0c
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