Musculoskeletal Research

Clinical Biomechanics

Kim Bennett, in collaboration with Kevin McQuade, is involved in the development of a biofeedback system designed to help teach physical therapy students high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust manipulation. The device will generate curves on force magnitude, rate and direction of the manipulation and allow the student to compare his or her performance with the curves generated by expert manual therapists.

Murray Maitland studies clinical musculoskeletal biomechanics. Past research has focused on areas such as joint replacements and rehabilitation techniques. He is currently designing and testing artificial hands and feet. With the foot project, his goal is to improve community mobility for people with amputations by developing a foot that adapts to uncertain placement or uneven ground. The overall goal of the hand project is to reduce the number of control variables required for a versatile grasp.

Kevin McQuade's research interests focus on understanding the influence of muscle strengthening and neuromuscular performance on joint stability and on methods for quantifying musculoskeletal examinations using instrumented assessments. His current projects involve using markerless motion capture as a tool in clinical examinations and using an instrumented spinal manipulation approach as a feedback tool for manipulation training.

Chronic Pain

Sean Rundell conducts epidemiologic and health services research of chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions, particularly lower back pain in older adults. His research focuses on the prognosis of back pain and investigates how the type, amount and timing of physical therapy services affect outcomes in older adults with back pain. He’s also exploring methods to extract and utilize data from electronic health records for use in comparative effectiveness studies.