Traditional posterior approaches to the thoracic spine are done with either costo-transversectomy, lateral extracavitary approaches, or transpedicular approaches. The transpedicular approach is the only one that preserves the rib head. However, placing an expandable cage with this rib head intact poses special challenges because of the narrow corridor defined by the rib head and the spinal cord...

24 The abdominal and rib cage contributions to tidal breathing differ between REM and NREM sleep. We 25 hypothesized that abdominal relative contribution during NREM and REM sleep would be altered in 26 different directions when comparing sleep on Earth with sleep in sustained microgravity (μG), due to 27 conformational changes and differences in coupling between the rib cage and the abdominal ...

To assess the respiratory function of the ribs, we measured the changes in airway opening pressure (Pao) induced by stimulation of the parasternal and external intercostal muscles in anesthetized dogs, first before and then after the bony ribs were removed from both sides of the chest. Stimulating either set of muscles with the rib cage intact elicited a fall in Pao in all animals. After remova...

24 The abdominal and rib cage contributions to tidal breathing differ between REM and NREM sleep. We 25 hypothesized that abdominal relative contribution during NREM and REM sleep would be altered in 26 different directions when comparing sleep on Earth with sleep in sustained microgravity (μG), due to 27 conformational changes and differences in coupling between the rib cage and the abdominal ...

BACKGROUND Alterations in respiratory system kinematics in stroke lead to restrictive pattern associated with decreased lung volumes. Chest physical therapy, such as positive expiratory pressure, may be useful in the treatment of these patients; however, the optimum intensity to promote volume and motion changes of the chest wall remains unclear. OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of different in...

The aim of the study was to determine the acute effects of positive expiratory pressure (PEP) on breathing pattern, operational volumes and shortening velocity of respiratory muscles on patients with Parkinson's disease. It was evaluated 15 patients and healthy controls, by optoelectronic plethysmography, using PEP in three different levels (10, 15 and 20cmH2O). Breathing pattern changed in bot...

BACKGROUND Cough is a defensive behavior that can be initiated in response to a stimulus in the airway (reflexively), or on command (voluntarily). There is evidence to suggest that physiological differences exist between reflex and voluntary cough; however, the output (mechanistic and airflow) differences between the cough types are not fully understood. Therefore, the aims of this study were t...

This work is concerned with the three-dimensional (3-d) shape and pose reconstruction of the human rib cage from few two-dimensional (2-d) radiographs. The reconstruction method is based on a statistical shape model of the rib cage that is adapted to the 2-d image data of a patient. An underlying optimization process minimizes a distance measure which quantifies the dissimilarities between 2-d ...

There are ethnic differences in lung function, with white subjects having larger height-normalised forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) than black people or Asians [1, 2]. It has been argued that these differences might be explained by environmental and social factors associated with poverty [3, 4]. Alternatively, the differences in lung volume might be explain...