Understanding the role of altered tendon properties on tendon strains during recovery from Achilles tendinopathy.

There is strong evidence for altered mechanical and morphological properties in the pathological Achilles tendon and that mechanical loading triggers adaptation to the tendon. It is suggested that non-uniform displacement could reduce loading of the tendon. Exercises need to deliver the appropriate mechanical trigger to stimulate restoring normal tendon properties. It is therefore crucial that exercises are adequately tuned to account for these altered properties in order to design a rehabilitation protocol that delivers the optimal stimulus for tendon regeneration and avoids overloading the tendon. This project aims to develop and validate a workflow that will allow non-invasive characterization of tendon properties in terms of its geometry, material properties and non-uniform displacement and based on these allow to select rehabilitation exercises that will deliver the optimal strain distribution in the tendon to optimize the regenerative process.

Keywords:tendon, biomechanics, rehabilitation, ultrasound, loading

Disciplines:Rehabilitation