Faculty at the University of Chicago are submitting a proposal to the 2012 NSF Major Research Instrumentation Grant program, and they would like to know if any faculty at Northwestern University might be interested in joining their effort?

The proposal is to develop an accurate, precise measurement of skeletal and soft tissue movement (kinematics) in awake, alert, naturally behaving animals. 

Current kinematic techniques at University of Chicago include 2-dimensional video or videofluoroscopy, which is limited to planar movements, or 3-dimensional motion capture (mocap) technology, which is limited either to external markers glued to skin or clothing, with attendant loss of fidelity of underlying bone movement, or to markers percutaneously coupled to the bone, with obvious limitations for application to humans. In order to collect precise and accurate measurements of the kinematics of internal structures (bones, muscles, tendon, ligaments) in humans, and in animals at a range of sizes, a 3-dimensional X-ray motion analysis system is required.

This proposal will create new research opportunities at University of Chicago by acquiring 4-dimensional X-ray motion analysis equipment. This equipment will make possible biplanar dynamic Roentgen stereogrammetric analysis (developed in the Department of Orthopedics at University of Pittsburgh) or, as referred to here, X-Ray Reconstruction of Moving Morphology (XROMM) (developed in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Unvi. Chicago, and the Department of Orthopedics at Brown University) - see http://www.xromm.org/history.

For more information, please contact:
Callum F. Ross, Ph.D. ([log in to unmask]), Associate Professor, Dept. Organismal Biology & Anatomy, University of Chicago