Spinal Movement Biomechanics Group

Members

• Heiner Baur, PhD
• Patric Eichelberger, PhD
• Laura Böhringer, PT, BSc (MSc student)
• Melanie Liechti, PT, BSc (MSc student)
• Michael von Arx, PT, BSc (MSc student)

Alumni

• Mena Suter, PT, MSc
• Jana Frangi, PT, MSc
• Edwige Simonet, PT, MSc
• Christian Bangerter, PT, MSc

• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA (Dennis E. Anderson, PhD)
• Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland (Michael L. Meier, PhD)
• University Children’s Hospital Basel (UKBB), Basel, Switzerland (Carol-Claudius Hasler, MD and Reinald Brunner, MD)
• University Hospital Bern, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland (Balz Winteler, PT, MSc)
• IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milan, Italy (Tito Bassani, PhD and Fabio Galbusera, PhD)

Current projects

• Spine Biomechanics during Functional Activities in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pilot Feasibility Study.
  PI: Stefan Schmid, PT, PhD
  Sponsor: Swiss Physiotherapy Association (physioswiss)
• Low back pain: Unveiling the contribution of motor control adaption using biomechanical modeling and neuroimaging.
  PI: Michael L. Meier, PhD (Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland)
  Involved member(s) of Spinal Movement Biomechanics Group: Stefan Schmid, PT, PhD (Project partner)
  Sponsor: Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant-no.: 185123)
• Novel musculoskeletal models to assess spine segmental loads in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis.
  PI: Dennis E. Anderson, PhD (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA)
  Involved member(s) of Spinal Movement Biomechanics Group: Stefan Schmid, PT, PhD (Co-investigator)
  Sponsor: National Center of Simulation and Rehabilitation Research (Sub-award of NIH grant no.: 5P2CHD065690

Completed projects

• Using subject-specific musculoskeletal spine models to predict segmental loading and individual muscle forces during functional activities in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis.
  PI: Stefan Schmid, PT, PhD
  Sponsor: Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant-no.: 178427)
• The Measurement of Spine Dynamics during Gait for the Quantification of Intervention Outcomes in Patients with different Pathologies.
  PI: Stefan Schmid, PT, PhD
  Sponsor: Swiss Physiotherapy Association (physioswiss)

Selected journal publications

• Schmid S, Burkhart KA, Allaire BT, Grindle D, Anderson DE. Musculoskeletal full-body models including a detailed thoracolumbar spine for children and adolescents aged 6-18 years. Journal of Biomechanics. 2019 (in press).
• Bangerter C, Romkes J, Lorenzetti S, Krieg A, Hasler CC, Brunner R, Schmid S. What are the biomechanical consequences of a structural leg length discrepancy on the adolescent spine during walking? Gait & Posture. 2019;68:506-513.
• Schmid S, Stauffer M, Jäger J, List R, Lorenzetti S. Sling-based infant carrying affects lumbar and thoracic spine neuromechanics during standing and walking. Gait & Posture. 2019;67:172-180.
• Schmid S, Bruhin B, Ignasiak D, Romkes J, Taylor WR, Ferguson SJ, Brunner R, Lorenzetti S. Spinal Kinematics during Gait in Healthy Individuals across Different Age Groups. Human Movement Science. 2017;54:73-81.
• Baaklini E, Angst M, Schellenberg F, Schmid S, Tal A, Taylor WR, Lorenzetti S. High-heeled walking decreases lumbar lordosis. Gait & Posture. 2017;55:12-14.
• Schmid S, Romkes J, Taylor WR, Lorenzetti S, Brunner R. Orthotic Correction of Lower Limb Function during Gait does not immediately influence Spinal Kinematics in Spastic Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy. Gait & Posture. 2016;49:457-62.
• Schmid S, Studer D, Hasler C-C, Romkes J, Taylor WR, Lorenzetti S, Brunner R. Quantifying Spinal Gait Kinematics using an Enhanced Optical Motion Capture Approach in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. Gait & Posture. 2016;44:231-7.
• Schmid S, Studer D, Hasler C-C, Romkes J, Taylor WR, Brunner R, Lorenzetti S. Using Skin Markers for Spinal Curvature Quantification in Main Thoracic Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: An Explorative Radiographic Study. PLoS ONE. 2015;10(8):e0135689.

Preprints

• Suter M, Eichelberger P, Frangi J, Simonet E, Baur H, Schmid S. Measuring lumbar spinal motion during functional activities with the Epionics SPINE system: a comparative evaluation and reliability study. 2019. arXiv:1910.04282v1 [physics.med-ph].
• Schmid S, Burkhart KA, Allaire BT, Grindle D, Anderson DE. Musculoskeletal full-body models including a detailed thoracolumbar spine for children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years. 2019. arXiv:1906.05820v1 [physics.med-ph].

Software and Databases

• Development of OpenSim-based musculoskeletal full-body models including a detailed thoracolumbar spine for children and adolescents aged 6-18 years (freely available for download on the project hosting platform SimTK: https://simtk.org/projects/spine-children)
• Spinal kinematics during gait in healthy individuals across different age groups (C3D-files freely available for download: https://movement.ethz.ch/data-repository/spinal-kinematics.html)