Systems and methods relating to magnetomicrometry and magnetic-target-based mechanomyography are provided. A method of detecting muscle activation, includes with a magnetic field sensor, detecting lateral vibration of a target implanted at a muscle or a tendon and estimating a level of muscle activation based on the detected lateral vibration. The target comprises a magnetic material.

A wearable assistive device is suggested comprising a force transmitting interconnection arrangement interconnecting in use a left limb of a user with a right limb of a user in a force transmitting manner; and a deflection arrangement guiding in use the force transmitting member along a path close to the body of a user, the path having a length dependent on the posture of the user; wherein the deflection arrangement comprises at least one elastic element engaging at one end thereof the force transmitting interconnection in between the left limb and the right limb in a manner deflecting the force transmitting interconnection from a straight line by an amount dependent on the excursion of the elastic element.

Disclosed herein are methods, compositions and tools for repairing articular surfaces repair materials and for repairing an articular surface. The articular surface repairs are customizable or highly selectable by patient and geared toward providing optimal fit and function. The surgical tools are designed to be customizable or highly selectable by patient to increase the speed, accuracy and simplicity of performing total or partial arthroplasty.

According to one aspect of the invention, a method for assessing physiological properties of a biological tissue is provided. The method comprising the steps of transmitting from a first coaxial probe, receiving at a second coaxial probe and assessing physiological properties. The transmission from the first probe is a microwave signal. The second coaxial probe receives a microwave signal. The first coaxial probe and the second coaxial probe are arranged in connection with the biological tissue. The physiological properties of the biological tissue between the coaxial probes are assessed based on the microwave signal transmitted and received across the biological tissue. The invention further relates to a system and a coaxial probe useful in performing such a method.

A method of electrically stimulating a target muscle of a patient includes placing an array of stimulation electrodes in electrical contact with the target muscle, applying an electrical stimulation signal to the array of stimulation electrodes, obtaining a signal from a sensing element placed on the patient, wherein the signal characterizes at least one biological parameter associated with contraction of the target muscle, and determining which stimulation electrodes optimize the efficacy of the electrical stimulation signal based on measurements from the stimulation electrodes and the sensing element.

A method of measuring a tissue parameter such as proteoglycan content and other relevant tissue parameters, e.g. tissue pH, in a tissue or an organ of a subject includes generating first and second frequency magnetic resonance data using T.sub.1ρ scans at different frequencies, wherein the frequencies are symmetric. The method also includes combining the first frequency magnetic resonance data and the second frequency magnetic resonance data to remove a number of contributions from a number of relaxation mechanisms other than chemical exchange, thereby obtaining chemical exchange-specific magnetic resonance data indicative of the tissue parameter in the tissue or the organ. The chemical exchange-specific magnetic resonance data may be used to measure the proteoglycan content in the tissue or organ.

Provided is a non-invasive system and method of determining pennation angle and/or fascicle length based on image processing. An ultrasound scan image is processed to facilitate distinguishing of muscle fiber and tendon. The processed ultrasound scan image is then analyzed. The pennation angle and/or fascicle length is determined based on the analysis. An example method includes receiving an ultrasound scan image of at least a portion of a skin layer as disposed above one or more additional tissue layers, the image provided by a plurality of pixels. The method continues by introducing noise into the pixels of the image and thresholding the pixels of the image to provide a binary image having a plurality of structural elements of different sizes. The method continues with morphing the structural elements of the binary image to remove small structural elements and connect large structural elements. With this resulting image, the method distinguishes muscle fiber and tendon from remaining elements and determines the pennation angle and/or the fascicle length from the muscle fiber and the tendon. Associated apparatuses and computer program products are also disclosed.

A system, devices, and methods are described for imaging and measuring the mechanical properties of both surface and subcutaneous tissues found in living organisms, animals, and in natural and synthetic materials, and may include a first device configured to determine a modulus of a portion of bulk material or subcutaneous tissue (via measurement of vibrations), and/or determine resonant frequency of the vibrations, and a second device operably connected to the first device and configured to generate vibrations. The first device may be an optical coherence tomography device. The system may include a processor and data storage device with instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to process of the frequency data and the displacement data to determine a resonant frequency of the material under investigation and calculate the mechanical modulus of elasticity of the material from a resonance frequency spectrum of the analyzed spectral image.

Sensors may be attached to a patient's skin near a joint. An image of the joint and sensors may be captured and a bone centerline may be determined based on the image. A first set of measurements, which may include varus and valgus information, may be captured at the sensors, and may be captured while the patient is in a first position. The first set of measurements may then be transmitted to a handheld device. A second set of measurements corresponding to a second positon of the patient may be captured at the sensors. The second set of measurements may also include varus and valgus information and may also be transmitted to the handheld device. A difference between the first set of measurements and the second set of measurements, including the difference between the varus and valgus measurements, may be determined.

In a short T2 tissue imaging method and system, a magnetic resonance image is acquired that includes a short T2 tissue based on point-wise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition point-wise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition (PETRA) sequences, to obtain a first image, a T2 preparation pulse cluster is applied for suppressing a short T2 tissue signal between the PETRA sequences according to a predetermined interval of applying the T2 preparation pulse cluster, a magnetic resonance image is acquired that excludes the short T2 tissue based on the PETRA sequences applied with the T2 preparation pulse cluster, to obtain a second image; and a magnetic resonance image of the short T2 tissue is obtained based on the second image and the first image (e.g. by subtracting the second image from the first image).