A Spine Loading Model of Women in the Military
Abstract
The risk of low back disorders (LBD) may be particularly great for women in the military, influencing training effectiveness, costs, and military readiness. The goal of this research is to quantify musculoskeletal loads on the spine of women performing military manual materials handling (MMH) tasks. This will permit assessment of LBD risk factors for military women, and the potential to evaluate tasks and training methods for female military personnel. Our efforts are progressing in general accordance with the proposal and timeline. Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI) have been employed to measure the muscle cross sectional areas, lateral and sagittal moment arms distances, and muscle vector angles in both healthy men and women. Muscle force velocity and length strength relationships have been determined with biomechanical model performances determined, with a few more subjects needed to be collected to solidify the promising results. Finally, the validation of the biomechanical model using the relationships determined from muscle geometry and force velocity and length strength relationships is currently in progress. After the second year of this research effort, we are progressing well and are confident that an accurate biomechanical model can be developed for the evaluation of spinal loading of women performing military MMH tasks.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADB232057
Entities
People
- William S. Marras
Organizations
- Ohio State University