Resources at WTIC

Human participant equipment

• A new Biomechanics Laboratory (1300 sq. ft.) was custom designed as part of the 2016 Taubman Complex building.
• Vicon three dimensional (3D) optical motion analysis system for gait analysis, biomechanical tissue testing, and 3D computer generated animation, including 10 Bonita cameras, and a Basler high speed reference video camera, with Nexus, Polygon and Plug In Gait software.
• Two Kistler portable, multicomponent, force platforms with built-in amplifiers and external control units to specify the operating sensitivity/maximum force level. The forceplates are digitized by the Vicon system to determine the relevant Ground Reaction Force (GRF) vectors needed for the analysis of human movement.
• Delsys® Trigno 16-channel, wireless sensor system with a variety of physiological monitoring sensors, including; surface electromyography (EMG), 3-axis accelerometers and/or, electrocardiography (EKG) electrodes. The wireless capability allows the muscle’s action potential and body segment’s movement data to be transmitted (over 100 ft) to the base station using a 2.4 GHz RF communication protocol. The digital data is transferred via USB to the computer and then recorded and analysed with Delsys EMGworks software. Or alternatively, the EMG voltage can be synced through the Vicon system to simultaneously record the 3D motions, GRF and EMG simultaneously during a human biomechanics experiment.

“Quantified self” devices

• PrioVR Pro motion tracking suit, including 16 sensors plus the chest hub sensor/wireless transmitter. Sensors are located on the hands, lower arms, upper arms, chest, head, upper legs, lower legs, shoulders, feet, and torso. High-performance inertial sensors provide 360 degrees of low-latency, real-time motion tracking without the need for cameras, optics, line-of-sight, or large, awkward equipment.
• Shimmer wireless system that includes integrated physiological sensors, data storage and low-power communication capabilities for developing new consumer electronics applications to allow researchers, clinicians, or individuals to quantify and track their personal health and wellness. The sensors include; GPS, various accelerometer and inertial sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, EMG and EKG sensors, and strain gage or other auxiliary inputs. The development kit is designed for custom hardware and software applications and testing with both Windows computers and Android mobile devices.
• Xbox Kinect Sensor is a motion sensing input device by Microsoft. Designed as a webcam-style add-on peripheral, it enables users to control and interact with their console/computer without the need for a game controller, through a natural user interface using gestures and spoken commands.
• Wii Balance Board uses Bluetooth technology and contains four pressure sensors that measure the user’s center of balance and vertical ground reaction force.
• Leap Motion controller is a small USB peripheral device which is designed to be placed on a physical desktop, facing upward. Using two monochromatic IR cameras and three infrared LEDs, the device observes a distance of about 1 meter. Markerless motion videos at 300 frames per second are analyzed to determine 3D position data of the hands. A user can perform computer interface tasks such as navigating a website, using pinch-to-zoom gestures on maps, high-precision drawing, and manipulating complex 3D data visualizations.
• Nike+ Shoe Sensor Kits consist of 2 insole devices each containing a 3-axis accelerometers and flexible electronics consisting of 4 pressure sensors and a fixture to hold a puck (rechargeable power and controller that connects the sensors and transmits data over Bluetooth). There are also iOS apps for wirelessly receiving and displaying sensor information.
• Myo gesture control armband reads the muscle activity in your forearm and gives you touch-free control of technology with hand gestures and motion. Out of the box, the Myo armband detects five distinct hand gestures and motion to wirelessly control technology. The Myo armband uses Bluetooth Smart to connect to Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices.
• Triax Smart Impact Monitor is a lightweight, impact sensing and reporting device, intended for using during sports activities where there is a possibility of head impact injury. The device may be comfortably worn during sports activities using either a headband or skullcap style holder. It will record all impacts and accelerations greater than a pre-programmed set-point. All measurements are transmitted in real time to a nearby base monitoring unit using a low power wireless link.
• NeuroSky MindWave safely measures and outputs the EEG power spectrums (alpha waves, beta waves, etc), eSense meters (attention and meditation) and eye blinks. The device consists of a headset, an ear-clip, and a sensor arm. It can be used with a wide variety of games, braintraining, education, and other brain-computer interface applications.
• Phyode W/Me Wellness Tracker analyzes your body as a system to show your mental and physical state, such as emotions and vitality. The Rhythmic Breathing Coach can be used to increase endurance and reduce stress.
• Withings Smart Body Analyzer is quick measure of your weight, body fat percentage, heart rate, and the room air quality. Each measurement is recorded in the mobile app and plotted so you can easily track your progress over time.
• iHealth Wireless Blood Pressure Wrist Monitor includes advanced motion-sensor technology and a user-friendly mobile app, to simply guide the user to take a measurement or compare your previous systolic, diastolic and pulse rate numbers from their smartphone or tablet.
• Polar T34 Chest Belt Heart Rate Transmitter monitors and then wirelessly transmits your heart rate data from the chest strap to a Polar WearLink+ compatible receiver.
• e-Health Sensor Platform V2.0 allows Arduino and Raspberry Pi users to perform biometric and medical applications where body monitoring is needed by using 10 different sensors: pulse, oxygen in blood (SPO2), airflow (breathing), body temperature, electrocardiogram (ECG), glucometer, galvanic skin response (GSR – sweating), blood pressure (sphygmomanometer), patient position (accelerometer) and muscle/electromyography sensor (EMG). Biometric information gathered can be wirelessly sent using any of the 6 connectivity options available: Wi-Fi, 3G, GPRS, Bluetooth, 802.15.4 and ZigBee depending on the application.

Tissue and cell biomechanics equipment

• Center for Innovative Materials Research (2000 sq. ft.) – part of the College of Engineering with multiple screw-axis, hydraulic and electro-mechanical testing machines that can be used for biomechanical testing. The many MTS/Instron materials testing machines have varying force/strain measurement capabilities and fixtures, including an ElectroPlus E1000, biaxial (tension/compression & torsion) electro-mechanical testing machine with Instron Advanced Video Extensometer.
• Tissue preparation and storage facilities (150 sq. ft.), including a wet lab with -20°C freezer, refrigerator, extraction hood.
• Loading fixtures for tension/compression, bending and torsion experiments with accompanying environmental chambers/water bath. Customized test fixtures are designed and fabricated on-site.
• Pressure sensitive film for measuring contact pressures and areas during loading.
• Tissue Engineering laboratory (300 sq. ft.) with preparation and culture facilities, including a sterile CO2 incubator, laminar flow culture hood, and tissue engineering equipment.
• Cell culture laboratory (300 sq. ft.) with cell storage, preparation and culture facilities with sterile CO2 incubators, laminar flow culture hoods, waterbath, centrifuge, vortex mixers, oven, hot plate, mass balance hoods and incubators, autoclaves, culture media/growth factors, biochemical assays and a microplate reader
• Imaging capabilities, including; histology preparation, optical microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy (eSEM).

Other capabilities

• Custom built anthropomorphic/biofidelic shoe/surface rotational traction measurement device (dummy lower extremity)
• Computer aided design (CAD) and finite element analysis (FEA) software for engineering design and evaluation of static and dynamic stress/strain and predicting chronic tissue responses to mechanical loading.
• Materialise MIMICS medical imaging software for processing and editing anatomical data from CT and MRI scans for use in CAD, FEM and 3D printing.
• Lower extremity computer models for predicting ligament strain and/or cartilage/bone stress during sports injury scenarios.Dental computer models for predicting tooth reaction forces with dentures or implants.
• SonoSite Titan portable ultrasound system with Color Power Doppler, 2D Grayscale, M-Mode, and application-specific calculation packages Transducers include; a 2 MHz curved array or a 5 MHz linear array.
• Collaboration with medical imaging facilities for MRI, CT and μCT.
• Collaboration with cadaver and animal testing facilities, including a unique traumatic isolated ACL-rupture model for in vivo research.
• Collaboration with mechatronics and robotics laboratories for biorobotics research to extend the limits of how machines interact with humans.
• Tablet laptop computers with a full-range of software installed including Microsoft Office, Adobe Create Suite, ABAQUS, AutoCAD, CATIA, Labview, MATLAB, MiniTab, ImageJ, etc. There is campus-wide wireless networking as well as an EBL-specific network drive.
• Metal workshop, a prototyping facility with 3D printers and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) equipment, and a woodshop with full-time staff for professional advising and supervision for experimental fixture fabrication