Trine University assistant professor Thomas (Gus) Almonroeder, DPT, Ph.D., and Trine
Doctor of Physical Therapy students Emily Watkins and Taylor Miller presented research
findings at the American Society of Biomechanics 42nd Annual Meeting on Aug. 10 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Each project received positive feedback from conference attendees and abstract reviewers.
Watkins presented a poster titled, “Verbal Instruction Reduces Patellofemoral Joint
Loading during Bodyweight Squatting.” The study found that providing individuals with
verbal instruction to change their technique while squatting significantly lowered
the forces acting on the knee joint. This work may be beneficial in the treatment
or prevention of knee pain, which appears to result from excessive loading.
Tricia Widenhoefer, PT, MS, CBIS, director of clinical education, also contributed
to the project. Almonroeder, Widenhoefer and Watkins have written a manuscript describing
their findings that is currently being reviewed for publication.
Miller presented a poster titled, “Decision-Making Influences Tibial Impact Accelerations
during Lateral Cutting.” The study compared athletes’ movement patterns during pre-planned
and unplanned sports maneuvers. For the pre-planned condition, the athletes knew the
maneuver to perform before imitating a trial, allowing them to pre-plan. For the unplanned
condition, the athletes initiated their movement and then reacted to a visual signal
that dictated the maneuver they should perform, limiting their ability to pre-plan.
The athletes demonstrated mechanics that may place them at greater risk for injury
for the unplanned trials. As a result, it appears that the inability to pre-plan movements
in sports may contribute to an athlete’s risk of injury. This project also relied
on contributions from Almonroeder and Trine students Logan Lucas, Ben England, Travis
Mason and Chris Lanning. A paper describing the findings has been accepted for publication
in the Journal of Applied Biomechanics.
“The opportunity to represent our newly established research lab, our DPT program
and Trine University as a whole at this conference was a tremendous honor,” Miller
said. “Our DPT faculty does a fantastic job at providing Trine's DPT students with opportunities
to promote ourselves and our work, as well as our program. Our research mentor, Dr.
Almonroeder, has provided many research opportunities, which ultimately has given
us a platform to better ourselves inside the clinic as well as within our profession
as a whole. Having the opportunity to be surrounded by some of the leading minds within
the field of biomechanics at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic was a great experience
that I definitely took a lot away from!”
The American Society of Biomechanics, founded in 1977, serves about 850 academic researchers,
clinicians, scientists, students and industry members working to solve basic and applied
problems in biomechanics and working to improve understanding of the workings of biological
systems.