title: Upper limb vibration prototype with sports and rehabilitation applications: development, evaluation and preliminary study.
abstract: Vibration stimulation as an exercise intervention has been studied increasingly for its potential benefits and applications in sports and rehabilitation. Vibratory exercise devices should be capable of generating highly precise and repeatable vibrations and should be capable of generating a range of vibration amplitudes and frequencies in order to provide different training protocols. Many devices used to exercise the upper body provide limited variations to exercise regimes mostly due to the fact that only vibration frequency can be controlled. The authors present an upper limb vibration exercise device with a novel actuator system and design which attempts to address these limitations. Preliminary results show that this device is capable of generating highly precise and repeatable vibrations with independent control over amplitude and frequency. Furthermore, the results also show that this solution provides a higher neuromuscular stimulation (i.e. electromyography activity) when compared with a control condition. The portability of this device is an advantage, and though in its current configuration it may not be suitable for applications requiring higher amplitude levels the technology is scalable.
authors.affiliation: Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering, Nottingham University Hospitals, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK; School of Engineering, College of Physical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK.
authors.forename: Amit Narahar
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Pujari
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, College of Physical Sciences , University of Aberdeen , Aberdeen AB24 3FX , UK.
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Neilson
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, College of Physical Sciences , University of Aberdeen , Aberdeen AB24 3FX , UK.
authors.forename: Sumeet S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Aphale
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Science, Aspire Academy, Doha, Qatar; College of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cardinale
keywords: actuators; electromyography; exercise intervention; gait analysis; neuromuscular stimulation; patient rehabilitation; prototypes; rehabilitation; sport; sports; upper limb vibration prototype; vibrations