Movement Disorders - Pick your avatar.

Movement Disorders - Pick your avatar.

Arthritis Injury Innovation Musculoskeletal system Videorecordings

Software that generates animated characters with strikingly realistic movement have been part of the entertainment world for some time. But now scientists have taken this one step further to create models that can help kids with cerebral palsy walk better or delay the onset of osteoarthritis.
The researchers behind this video—an entrant in the NIH Common Fund’s recent video competition—have developed OpenSim: a free software tool that combines state-of-the-art musculoskeletal modeling and dynamic computer simulations to produce highly accurate representations of the underlying biomechanics of motion. OpenSim was designed at the NIH-supported center for physics-based Simulation of Biological Structures (Simbios) at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. And now, researchers around the world are using OpenSim to find more effective interventions for a variety of movement disorders.
We can link you to the page, however you may need to use your home computer to further access OpenSim as the videos are on YouTube.  

Musculoskeletal fact sheets

Musculoskeletal fact sheets

Musculoskeletal system Osteoporosis

Two new fact sheets have been published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare:

Back problems - musculoskeletal fact sheet - about 3 million Australians (13,.6% of the population) reported having back problems according to 2011-12 ABS data.  This fact sheet explains exactly what back problems are, who gets them, how to prevent and manage them and the cost of back problems in Australia.

Osteoporosis - musculoskeletal fact sheet.  Similar information is provided on this fact sheet, which explains that about 625,500 Australians aged 50 and over (9.4%) reported having osteoporosis or osteopenia (low bone density). These conditions are more common for women (15.1%) than men (3.3%) of this age.