School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Adelaide Spinal Research Group, Centre for Orthopaedic & Trauma Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Ann Biomed Eng. 2024 Aug;52(8):2178-2192. doi: 10.1007/s10439-024-03517-w. Epub 2024 Apr 24.
Understanding of human neck stiffness and range of motion (ROM) with minimal neck muscle activation ("passive") is important for clinical and bioengineering applications. The aim of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate the reliability of methods for assessing passive-lying stiffness and ROM, in six head-neck rotation directions. Six participants completed two assessment sessions. To perform passive-lying tests, the participant's head and torso were strapped to a bending (flexion, extension, lateral bending) or a rotation (axial rotation) apparatus, and clinical bed, respectively. The head and neck were manually rotated by the researcher to the participant's maximum ROM, to assess passive-lying stiffness. Participant-initiated ("active") head ROM was also assessed in the apparatus, and seated. Various measures of apparatus functionality were assessed. ROM was similar for all assessment configurations in each motion direction except flexion. In each direction, passive stiffness generally increased throughout neck rotation. Within-session reliability for stiffness (ICC > 0.656) and ROM (ICC > 0.872) was acceptable, but between-session reliability was low for some motion directions, probably due to intrinsic participant factors, participant-apparatus interaction, and the relatively low participant number. Moment-angle corridors from both assessment sessions were similar, suggesting that with greater sample size, these methods may be suitable for estimating population-level corridors.
了解人类颈部僵硬和运动范围（ROM）在最小颈部肌肉激活（“被动”）下对于临床和生物工程应用非常重要。本研究的目的是开发、实施和评估评估六种头颈部旋转方向下被动仰卧位僵硬和 ROM 的方法的可靠性。六名参与者完成了两次评估。为了进行被动仰卧测试，参与者的头部和躯干被绑在弯曲（屈曲、伸展、侧屈）或旋转（轴向旋转）装置和临床床架上。研究人员手动将头部和颈部旋转至参与者的最大 ROM，以评估被动仰卧位的僵硬程度。还在装置和坐姿中评估了参与者主动发起的（“主动”）头部 ROM。评估了各种装置功能的措施。除了屈曲之外，在每个运动方向的所有评估配置中，ROM 都是相似的。在每个方向上，被动僵硬度通常随着颈部旋转而增加。在同一评估期间内，僵硬度（ICC＞0.656）和 ROM（ICC＞0.872）的可靠性可以接受，但对于某些运动方向，两次评估之间的可靠性较低，这可能是由于内在的参与者因素、参与者-装置的相互作用以及参与者数量相对较少所致。来自两个评估期间的力矩角度通道相似，这表明随着样本量的增加，这些方法可能适用于估计人群水平的通道。
