Transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) is a promising noninvasive alternative to epidural stimulation. However, further studies are needed to clarify how tSCS affects postural control. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of transcutaneous cervical spinal cord stimulation on postural stability in healthy participants via computerized stabilization. The center of pressure and the frequency spectrum of the statokinesiogram were assessed in 14 healthy volunteers under tSCS conditions with frequencies of 5 Hz or 30 Hz, subthreshold or suprathreshold stimulus strength, open or closed eyes, and hard or soft surfaces in various combinations. The results revealed that not all the changes in the center of the pressure oscillations reached statistical significance when the tSCS was used. However, tSCS at a frequency of 30 Hz with a suprathreshold stimulus strength improved postural stability. The use of subthreshold or suprathreshold tSCS at 5 Hz led to a shift of 60% of the signal power to the low-frequency range, indicating activation of the vestibular system. With tSCS at 30 Hz, the vestibular component remained dominant, but a decrease in the proportion of high-frequency oscillations was observed, which is associated with muscle proprioception. Thus, transcutaneous electrical stimulation of the cervical spinal cord may be an effective method for activating spinal cord neural networks capable of modulating postural control.

spinal cord injury is a devastating neurological disease that causes paralysis of muscles below the level of damage and causes immobilization. This condition can also cause secondary disorders such as osteoporosis. This study is aimed at assessing the effect of the severity of spinal cord injury on the mechanical properties of bone tissue. Methods of complete severing and contusion injury of the spinal cord were used on rats, and motor training on a treadmill was also used. The study included tensile and bending tests to assess the ultimate stresses and Young's modulus of the hind limb bone samples. The work was carried out on white laboratory rats weighing 180–200 g, divided into 4 experimental groups depending on the severity of injury and training. The results showed that spinal cord injury has a negative effect on the femurs and tibia of rats. It has also been found that motor training affects the bones of the hind limbs and is a factor affecting the destruction of bone tissue. Computed tomography of the samples revealed differences in the characteristics of bone porosity depending on the severity of the injury. Further analysis of these images will allow us to evaluate the geometric characteristics of each pore in the bone area and compare the degree of porosity change depending on the severity of the injury compared with the control group.

The determination of mechanical parameters is one of the relevant directions in the calculation of inhomogeneous media elements. The need to build numerical models is primarily due to the development of modern approaches to the reconstruction of materials of various composite structures. The use of computational models in clinical practice also makes it possible to study the strength characteristics of objects of biological origin, the features of which include the uniqueness of the material structural distribution. The most widespread approaches in this case are based on the use of image data. Within the framework of this work, a method for constructing an elasticity matrix based on digital twin data is presented. During the work, images with a given material structure are constructed, as well as data extraction from CT scans of full-scale samples. The averaging of mechanical parameters was performed on the basis of the finite element method for the area of square or cubic geometry defining the unit cell. The calculations performed by the proposed method showed the convergence of the method with the analytical calculation data on the example of solving test problems, and also determined the qualitative correspondence of the results to the features of the structural distribution of the material in full-scale samples. The presented homogenization method makes it possible to determine the elastic characteristics of a medium element, taking into account the inhomogeneous properties of the forming material.

Modern methods of human posture and movement assessment used in medical practice for diagnosing and monitoring the condition of patients with musculoskeletal disorders are discussed in the article. The advantages and disadvantages of traditional methods, such as goniometry and body topography, as well as modern technologies, including 3D video analysis systems, are described. The authors propose a new ap-proach based on the use of digital video cameras to create standardized video protocols for patient screening. This methodology provides accessibility, objectivity, and the pos-sibility of application in the routine practice of doctors from various specialties, such as neurology, orthopedics, rehabilitation, and sports medicine. The aim of the research is to develop a technology for assessing static coordination and detecting body asymmetry in patients. The developed software and hardware system provides automated pro-cessing of video recordings to analyze human posture symmetry. This process begins with marking the first frame and concludes with the calculation of numerical characteris-tics based on segmentation and object tracking. The program utilizes a pre-trained neural model to segment images and identify control points such as the center of mass, key joints, and body lines. The program allows to save angles, area and deviations at each moment in time. The processing results are then converted into numerical tables and visualized as plots. The software is designed to generate video protocols, facilitating dynamic assessment of patients in ambulatory care settings. Its application revealed pos-itive results: patients were divided into three significant groups, which correlates with common musculoskeletal syndromes. Specifically, the identified groups correspond to comorbidities in the craniocervical-shoulder and lumbar-femoral regions, as well as a combination of temporomandibular joint dysfunction with psychological affective disor-ders. These findings highlight the potential of digital visual assessment for accelerating patient diagnosis and identifying muscle imbalances caused by modern sedentary life-styles.

Представлен метод кластеризации данных видеофиксации, направленный на оценку постуральной устойчивости с использованием персистентных гомологий – современного подхода топологического анализа, обладающего высокой устойчивостью к шуму и вариабельности динамичных видеоданных. Исследование базируется на экспериментальных данных видеозаписей испытуемых при выполнении теста Ромберга с открытыми и закрытыми глазами, параллельно со стабилометрическим тестированием. Разработанный комплекс методов включает автоматическую сегментацию человеческой фигуры с применением предобученной модели Segment Anything Model, выделение ключевых анатомических точек и расчет угловых параметров тела во временной последовательности. Полученные временные ряды углов выполняются с помощью фильтрации Морса, обеспечивающей отслеживание топологических изменений, и представляются в виде диаграмм персистентности. Далее для анализа сходства и различий между диаграммами используется метрика Вассерштейна. Кластеризация происходит с помощью алгоритма k-средних, что позволяет выявить группы участников и их индивидуальные стратегии компенсации дисбаланса. Результаты демонстрируют, что топологический анализ видеоданных дает более глубокое и детализированное разделение испытуемых по паттернам постуральной устойчивости по сравнению с классической стабилометрией. Методы выявляют различные стратегии стабилизации равновесия – от изменений углов туловища до контроля головы и рук, что способствует качественному пониманию механизмов поддержания баланса. Авторы подчеркивают важность учета оптических искажений для повышения точности анализа и подтверждают высокую воспроизводимость и информативность предложенного подхода, открывающего перспективы для персонализированной диагностики и реабилитации пациентов.

This paper presents a method for clustering video data aimed at assessing postural stability using persistent homologies – a modern approach in topological data analysis characterized by high robustness to noise and variability in dynamic video data. The study is based on experimental video recordings of subjects performing the Romberg test with eyes open and closed, conducted in parallel with stabilometric testing. The de-veloped methodological framework includes automatic segmentation of the human figure utilizing a pretrained Segment Anything Model, extraction of key anatomical points, and calculation of angular body parameters over time sequences. The resulting time series of angles are analyzed using Morse filtering to track topological changes and are repre-sented as persistence diagrams. Subsequently, the Wasserstein metric is employed to analyze similarities and differences between the diagrams. Clustering is performed using the k-means algorithm, enabling identification of participant groups and their individual strategies for balance compensation. The results demonstrate that topological analysis of video data provides a deeper and more detailed stratification of subjects according to postural stability patterns compared to classical stabilometry. The methods reveal various strategies for equilibrium stabilization – ranging from changes in torso angles to control of the head and hands – facilitating a qualitative understanding of balance maintenance mechanisms. The authors emphasize the importance of accounting for optical distortions to enhance analysis accuracy and confirm the high reproducibility and informativeness of the proposed approach, opening prospects for personalized diagnosis and rehabili-tation of patients.