What makes one dancer's skills exceed another's? Is it body structure?

How do body changes over time in people with quadriplegia affect body function?

Researchers in human movement at Wayne State University (WSU) are optimistic that a three-dimensional body scanner will provide answers to these and other questions.

Human Solutions, a German-based company and leader in its field, has chosen the University as the site to loan a three-dimensional body scanner and software. It is one of only seven such scanners in U.S. universities. Housed in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (EACPHS), the scanner is being used in a collaborative research effort by Gerry Conti, PhD, director of the Human Movement Laboratory at the College, and Robert Erlandson, PhD, a professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering in the WSU College of Engineering.

"The development of accurate digital human models requires accurate identification of anthropometric features of an individual," Dr. Conti said. An assistant professor in the College's Occupational Therapy program, she is using the body scanner in her research on people with severe movement limitations. "We need to obtain a high fidelity digital human model. Therefore, a large number of measurements is needed," Conti explained.

The body scanner uses safe laser imaging to capture data and measurements from 140 points of the body in about 12 seconds. The collected measurements are then imported into a Digital Human Model software program. Imported also are three-dimensional analyses of common movements from a large databank of healthy people.

These movements may differ in people with spinal cord injury. As an example, Conti explained, "For someone with quadriplegia, movement analyses may include arm reach and use of simple objects, which may be difficult due to trunk, wrist or hand problems."

Historically, human anthropometric data has been collected manually. Manual anthropometric data collection, however, offers the potential for recording errors, and limits the ability to collect more than a few data points due to the time-intensive nature of manual collection.

In addition to their own research, Drs. Conti and Erlandson are making the body scanner available to other communities within and outside the University. They recently made presentations to University and professional athletic teams as well as to the Detroit Medical Center sports medicine.

"There is a tremendous potential for exciting research that may come from using the body scanner to collect data," said Dr. Conti.To learn more about the body scanner and its potential use in research, please contact Gerry E. Conti, PhD, at (313) 993-9932 or email her at ak3113@wayne.edu.

The Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is committed to advancing the health and well-being of society by preparing highly skilled health care practitioners and conducting groundbreaking research to improve models of practice and methods of treatment in pharmacy and the health sciences.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 29,000 students.

August 5, 2013

Media Contact: Kathleen J. Karas
Phone: (313) 577-2312
Email: kkaras@wayne.edu