The goal of my project is to image the muscular
differences in the tibialis anterior (located in the shin) between able-bodied
and drop foot patients using sonomyography, also referred to as ultrasound.
This will be done as a first step in my long-term goal to create an alternative
method for the treatment of drop foot. Drop foot (sometimes called foot drop)
is a neuromuscular condition that prevents a person from lifting their foot in
dorsiflexion during the heel strike phase of the gait cycle. Current treatments
include ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) and functional electrical stimulation (FES).
However, both treatments are limited in their ability to provide a long-term
therapeutic treatment of the condition. A therapeutic treatment improves muscle
function over time and helps the patient regain independence. Eventually, I
would like to combine the AFO and FES treatments in new, hybrid device,
hopefully able to provide a novel therapeutic treatment. I am passionate about this research from my own personal experience with drop foot. Frustrated by the inefficiencies with AFO’s, I decided to create my own. I learned along the way how FES was being used to treat drop foot and decided to incorporate it into my design. The mentorship of Dr. Siddhartha Sikdar and PhD student Joseph Madji have helped me explore my interests and taught me how to frame a scientific research project. I am grateful for their guidance.
Throughout the week, I spend my time reading various journal articles and modifying my research approach and questions. I collect data using pulse echo ultrasound and continuous wave doppler of the tibialis anterior, and then perform some preliminary data analysis in Matlab and LabView.
From this experience, I have learned everything is not always as straight forward as it would seem. There are often multiple sub-questions that must be answered before reaching the end goal, and sometimes you may have to back track or perform the experiment again. Patience is key.
