Dr. Naveen Chandrashekar is a Mechanical and Mechatronics Professor at the University of Waterloo, whose main research interests and activities are in the area of Orthopaedic biomechanics (ACL, knee mechanics), Biomedical device design, Tissue engineering, Implant design.
Prof. Chandrashekar is supervising this project with the help of Olivia Lougheed, who was in France as part of the student exchange program between Sorbonne Universities and the University of Waterloo. Olivia is studying Biomedical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. She sent her co-op working on biomechanics research (specifically that involving the human knee), so it pulled concepts directly from some of her courses.
The term was a positive experience for Olivia, as she was able to grow intellectually, culturally, and emotionally. She learned how to be more independent and adaptable to different cultures and lifestyles. When asked about living in France Olivia responded with, “France has a very different and more laid-back work culture, plus with the train systems, it’s so easy to travel. Because of this, was able to take a few days off just to travel.”
On the exchange, Olivia learned how to interact and work with people when there is a large language barrier and how to navigate different bus and train systems, specifically when they are not described in your native language. Olivia’s interactions with my supervisor were always positive, as he would guide her through her work, explaining some of the more difficult biomechanics concepts and helping her fix my code when an error was present. My supervisor was very nice and accommodating. I had no challenges with any colleagues.
The exchange met her expectations, as there were challenges that she foresaw in adapting to life far from home and away from friends and family, but it was also quite rewarding. Olivia was surprised by how difficult it was to integrate into French society due to language barrier (despite the fact that she was in French immersion throughout school and could speak French before coming to France). The exchange changed my perspective on sports engineering and gave me a better idea of how research in the field is done. I stuck around Europe immediately after the exchange to travel a bit more before returning to Canada. Next up, I have my 3B term.
The research project was exploring the quantification of human knee health during a squat motion using the flexion angle at the instantaneous point of rotation. This research utilized motion capture technology, as well as theoretical kinematics and biomechanics to analyze the squat motion in matlab. Motion capture markers were placed on anatomical landmarks of the legs (the usual method) as well as in arbitrarily placed clusters. The matlab code thus processes these marker locations during a series of squats, and expresses the squat motion (flexion, abduction, and axial rotation between the thigh and the shank) using the clusters placed on the thigh and the shank.
While the anatomical landmark method is carried out, it’s not the method being tested, and was instead used as a baseline to ensure that the cluster method was being implemented properly. By not relying on this anatomical landmark method, we prevent error caused by improper placement of markers (the cluster method works regardless of exact placement).
The objectives of the research are to quantify knee health in analyzing the angles of rotation at the instantaneous points of rotation, using a more robust method than what is currently being used. They seek to provide proof (through matlab plots) that the cluster method gives robust results, and that the instantaneous rotations give consistent results among healthy knees.
The key finding of this research was that the cluster method works, and that the instantaneous angles likely provide sufficient detail to quantify knee health. No findings were surprising, as most of the work was geared towards obtaining expected results. When asked about an accomplishment of Olivia’s research she responded, “I was able to isolate the flexion, abduction, and axial rotation angles as provided by the cluster markers, and obtain instantaneous values based on the instantaneous point of rotation.”
A biomedical application of this research could potentially be applied in diagnosing knee dysfunctions. The discipline and application areas of this research include Biomechanics, Sports Engineering, and Theoretical Kinematics. This research will help the industry by providing one step closer towards a better understanding and analysis of the health of human knee. It could help to inform and guide any products or technologies aimed at knee health (such as implants or braces).