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Research Facility

The ERBI program is housed at the Occupational and Industrial Orthopaedic Center (OIOC) of New York University-Hospital for Joint Diseases (NYU-HJD), and is located at 63 Downing Street in New York City. The center is located within walking distance of the main campus of New York University at Washington Square. The facilities at OIOC include classroom space and the Ergonomics and Biomechanics laboratory.

The Ergonomic and Biomechanics Laboratory is used for research, education, consulting and clinical purposes and equipped with:

  • A Polhemus 3D LIBERTY Electromagnetic Motion Tracking Device that utilizes low-frequency magnetic field technology to determine the position and orientation of moving body segments relative to a source reference frame. The device has six degrees of freedom device and is used for motion analysis at and around the various joints of the extremities.  The system has the capability of measuring five body segments simultaneously. 
  • A Delsys 16-Channel EMG System to measure and analyze electrical signals generated by muscles.  This system is portable and has the potential to become a wireless.  The EMG system is used in conjunction with the dynamometers and enables the investigation of recruitment patterns of muscles and the force output of the muscles during various activities.
  • An in-house 16-Channel Electromyography (EMG) System used as a backup EMG system.
  • The MotionMonitor software package.  This package acquires and processes data from the 3D LIBERTY Electromagnetic Motion Tracking Device as well as both EMG systems.  This package is capable of capturing data from any analog system that is capable of transmission through an A/D board. 
  • A 2D Accelerometer Biosignal Sensor to sense static and dynamic forces used in conjunction with the Polhemus 3D LIBERTY Electromagnetic Motion Tracking Device and the Delsys 16-Channel EMG System.
  • A Bruel & Kjaer Human Vibration Measurement Set used to measure vibration exposure on the human body. This portable system fully complies with the whole-body vibration measurement standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
  • In addition, the laboratory is equipped with various equipment and devices including force transducers, analog-digital oscilloscope, Polar portable heart rate monitor, consumption-measuring device, sound level meter, photometer,  thermo-hydrometer,  thermo-anemometer, and digital video and cameras.
  • A Data Acquisition System consisting of general purpose data acquisition software, a 64-channel multifunction data acquisition board, and an additional 16-channel data acquisition board. The 64-channel system is used to collect and analyze up to 64 channels of data simultaneously at a rate of up to 3100 Hertz.
  • Also available are software packages for various applications such as the LabVIEW data acquisition and analysis software, Matlab mathematical manipulation data, 2D and 3D Static Strength software, and Energy Expenditure Prediction software.