Human Performance Laboratory

• “Comparison of Outcomes Following Total Hip Arthroplasty: Anterior vs. Posterior Minimal Invasive Techniques” Vardaxis, V.; Covill, L.; Mahoney, G.; Nettrour, J.
  It is the intent of this project to evaluate the short and long-term functional performance, physical activity level, health status, radiographic outcomes and physical outcomes of toat hip arthroplasty (THA) patients receiving total hips through one of two commonly used MIS either the posterolateral (PLA) or direct anterior (DAA) surgical procedures and contrast these measures to those of a gender and age matched control group.  The functional performance evaluation will include objective assessment of everyday activities (walking, balance, curb - step up and down, stair ascend/descend, and sit-to-stand), the physical activity level will include assessment of the everyday activity maintained (using portable wearable activity monitors), the health status assessment will be done using patient-reported and physician completed survey tools (WOMAC and Harris Hip Score, respectively), radiographic outcomes will be assessed using measures from the pre and post-surgery X-rays, and the physical outcomes will be assessed by a licensed physical therapist (manual muscle strength and ROM).
• “Using Ultrasound Imaging to Assess the Lisfranc Ligament Role in the Foot.” Vardaxis, V.; Frush, K.; Graves, N.; Rettedal, D.; Marshall, J.; Ibrahim, N.; Ryba, D.; Jaramillo, T; Choi, J.
  The purpose of this study is to assess the dorsal Lisfranc ligament strain under clinically relevant loads, assess its bilateral symmetry in structure and function to relate it to using the opposite side for control purposes, evaluate the reliability of measurement using ultrasound imaging and assess gender differences in the function of the Lisfranc Ligament.
• “Effect of Low Dye Taping on Arch Deformation of the foot.” Yoho, R.; Rivera, J.; Renschler, R.; Vardaxis, V.; Dikis, J.
  The purpose of this study is to determine at what point in time the Low-Dye taping loses its ability to control the arch deformation after its application.
• “The Association of the Metatarsus Adductus angle with the Jones Fracture and its healing process.” Yoho, R.; Carrington, S.; Dix, B.; Vardaxis, V.
  The purpose of this study is to seek for potential differences between individuals with proximal fifth metatarsal “Jones Fracture” and controls in the metatarsus adductus angle (MAA) and investigate the effect of the MAA on the time to heel.
• “The flexion-rotation test performed actively and passively: a comparison of range of motion in patients with cervicogenic headache.” Petersen, S.; Vardaxis, V.
  The purpose of this study was to compare ROM during the active and passive flexion rotation test in patients with cervicogenic headache and asymptomatic participants and to determine if the active test can be used to identify side-to-side differences in ROM in patients.
• “Neutral Position of the Subtalar Joint During Gait Using 3-D Motion Analysis” Mahoney, J.; So, E.; Renner, K.; Puccinelli, A.; Vardaxis, V.
  To further understand the function of the subtalar Joint during gait, we compared the average subtalar 3-D position during the midstance of gait at self-selected and fast walking speeds to various clinically identified subtalar joint neutral positions weight and not-weight bearing.

• Education in the HPL
  All Physical Therapy and Podiatric Medicine students have laboratory experiences in the Human Performance Laboratory. These experiences are designed to enhance their understanding and observational skills of healthy and pathological human movement. Observational movement analysis skills are taught and the computerized system is used as the objective gold standard the students’ observations are contrasted against. This process augment’s the subjective expert/experience based ability of the student of evaluate movement deficits and assists in the development of this valuable skill earlier in their clinical career.
• Student research mentorship in the HPL.
  Multiple students from the three DMU colleges, as well as, undergraduates participate in student research experiences in the HPL. These students take research elective courses; participate in various HPL funded projects and/or in the DMUs student research mentorship program; or undertake optional clinical rotations in the lab.

Multiple forms of research opportunities are available all year round in the HPL. Interested students can get in contact directly with the HPL director or via the Des Moines University Research Office.  More information.