SUMMARY

Wearable devices (i.e. exoskeletons and modified footwear) can have immediate impacts on locomotor performance measures like walking economy, by acutely changing leg structure. Little is known about long-term musculoskeletal impacts of these acute changes and how adaptations could then impact locomotor function. While exercise studies give insight on structural changes in high strain/loading conditions, less is known about how muscles and tendons remodel from small changes in loading over long bouts of locomotion. There is a critical need to study how changes in loading during the context of daily activities effect musculoskeletal structure, and in-turn how this impacts neuromechanical function.

The broad goal of this project is to examine whether intervening by changing limb structure with a wearable device can alter musculoskeletal structure leading to changes in neuromechanical function. We will use modified footwear as a simple wearable to shift muscle-tendon dynamics during daily activities. We hypothesize that changes in structure will lead to changes in neuromechanical function across scale. There are limited long-term studies outside of laboratory settings and our scientific questions can be explored through two distinct groups (raised heels, and raised toes), with low risk, simple wearable devices. The summation of the project results can be used to inform design and control of more complicated wearables, as well as more basic science questions about the relationship between structure and function in locomotion.