A multi-body model for comparative study of cervical traction simulation - comparison between inclined and sitting traction.

A computer simulation model was developed to compare the result of cervical traction therapy in inclined and sitting traction positions. The behavior of the model was shown to match with the intervertebral changes in the upper and lower spine from the data of a radiographic experiment. Both the results of the experiment and the simulation also showed that in the inclined position, the amount of posterior separations in the upper cervical spine remains constant regardless of traction angle, while the posterior separations at lower cervical spine increases along with traction angles. Using the simulation model, parametric studies were conducted to investigate the intervertebral space changes in response to different traction angles in the inclined and sitting positions. When using the sitting position, the subject's hip joint stiffness was shown to cause larger variations in the intervertebral space than in the inclined position. In addition, variations in the tension/compression stiffness was shown to cause the largest changes in the resulting separations in both positions but the variations in anterior space changes were larger in the sitting position. Our study suggests that the inclined position is less sensitive to variations in the subject's body parameters and is able to provide a more reliable and predictable traction result than the sitting position.

A multi-body model for comparative study of cervical traction simulation - development, improvement and validation.

A computer simulation model was developed to study the dynamic behavior of the cervical spine during cervical traction therapy in inclined and sitting traction positions. The model improved upon an old model with additional components to represent the behavior of the intervertebral discs and the posterior ligaments. The simulation result of the new model was compared against the cervical traction data from a radiographic experiment in both positions. The simulation results of the old model and new model were compared to illustrate the improvement. Using the new model, we compared the timing response of cervical traction in the inclined and sitting positions.

Assess BA10 activity in slide-based and immersive virtual reality prospective memory task using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

By using slide-based task in a laboratory setting, previous studies have found that activation of the rostral prefrontal cortex (BA10) is related to prospective memory performance. In this present study, we used immersive virtual reality (VR) technology to measure PM performance in a real-life task in a simulated virtual environment. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was used simultaneously to record the rostral prefrontal cortex activities of the subjects. By comparing the data against the ones from the slide-based task, the result suggested that the activation of BA10 in the VR tasks were greater than the one in the slide-based tasks, and the VR tasks have the potential to identify the particular location of BA10 that is connected to the PM performance in our daily lives.