Victoria Chester

Research interests

• Clinical Gait Analysis
• Motion Capture
• Multisegment Foot Biomechanics
• Biomechanics and AI
• Clinical Biomechanics
• Orthopaedic Biomechanics
• Wearable Sensors

Current teaching

• KIN 3061 - Motion Capture Biomechanics
• KIN4041 - Clinical Gait Analysis
• KIN 3065 - Matlab and Python Programming in Biomechanics

Biography

Dr. Chester received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick in 2004. Dr. Chester has an undergraduate (Guelph) and Master’s degree (Laurentian) in Biomechanics.

Dr. Chester is currently Professor and Co-Director of the Andrew and Marjorie McCain Human Performance Laboratory in the Richard J. CURRIE CENTER in the Faculty of Kinesiology.

Dr. Chester is also co-founder of the UNB/Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation Paediatric Gait Team. Dr. Chester’s research programs are funded by NSERC Discovery Grant, CFI Leader Opportunities Fund, MITACS, and NBIF.

Current research projects

Dr. Chester’s research interests are mainly focused on clinical biomechanics research in children and adults. Our team conducts research in five main areas:

• Typical and clinical lower and upper extremity mechanics across the lifespan;
• Improved mechanical models of the foot and ankle;
• Classification of gait using machine learning tools;
• Assessment and development of treatment, rehabilitative and preventative strategies for improving mobility and quality of life;
• Development of wearable sensors for assessing mobility in aging populations.

Research projects in these areas include:

• Multisegment foot motion in children with Autism during gait
• Classification of gait patterns using machine learning
• Gait patterns in neuropathic and non-neuropathic diabetes
• Gait patterns in young and old adults with pes planus
• The effects of walking speed on gait mechanics in young and older Canadians
• Wearable sensor technology for mobility assessment
• Upper extremity prosthetic biomechanics

Andrew and Marjorie McCain Human Performance Laboratory

The Andrew and Marjorie McCain Human Performance Laboratory is a state of the art biomechanics and neuromuscular physiology lab. The lab is housed within a 190m jogging track, which facilitates the analysis of various motor tasks including walking, running, and wheeling.

The facility is extensively equipped with a 12 T160 Vicon motion capture system, 6 Kistler force plates, HD EMG, Cybex Dynamometer, and Tekscan pressure mats. Our research team consists of undergraduate (USRA, Honours, work study) and graduate students from the Faculty of Kinesiology, and Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Departments.

Selected publications

Ortiz, O., Kuruganti, U., Chester, V., Wilson, A., Blustein, D. (2023). Changes in EEG alpha-band power during prehension indicates neural motor drive inhibition. Journal of Neurophysiology, 130.

Wright, E., Chester, V., Kuruganti U. (2022). Identifying the Optimal Parameters to Express the Capacity–Activity Interrelationship of Community-Dwelling Older Adults Using Wearable Sensors. Sensors, 22(24), 9648.

Pradhan, A., Chester, V., Padhiar, K. (2022). Classification of Autism and Control Gait in Children Using Multisegment Foot Kinematic Features. Bioengineering 2022, 9, 552.

Pradhan, A., Kuruganti, U., Hill, W., Jiang, N., Chester, V. (2020). Robust Simultaneous and Proportional Myoelectric Control Scheme for Individuals with Transradial Amputations. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc.

Pradhan, A. Kuruganti, U., and Chester, V. (2020). Biomechanical Parameters and Clinical Assessment Scores for Identifying Elderly Fallers Based on Balance and Dynamic Tasks. IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 193532-193543. (2020).

Pradhan, A., Oladi, S., Kuruganti, U., Chester, V. (2020). Classification of Elderly Fallers and Non-fallers Using Force Plate Parameters from Gait and Balance Tasks. Springer Proceedings of the International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, Computer Methods, Imaging and Visualization in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 36, 339-353.

Pradhan, A., Jiang, N., Chester, V., and Kuruganti, U. (2020). Linear Regression with Frequency Division Technique for Robust Simultaneous and Proportional Myoelectric Control during Medium and High Contraction-Level Variation. Biomedical Signal Processing and Control 61.

Pradhan, A., Malagon, G., Lagacy, R., Chester, V., and Kuruganti, U. (2020). Age and sex related changes in muscle activity patterns during isokinetic and isometric knee extension in men and women. Journal of Physiological Anthropology 39(1):11.

Chouinard, J., Chester, V. and Kuruganti, U. (2019). Adapting Isokinetic Dynamometry to Accommodate Transradial Amputation: The Development of a New Dynamometer Attachment and User Case Study. Cogent Engineering, 6(1), 1-12.

Beauchet, O., Montembeault, M., Barden, J.M., Szturm, T., Bherer, L., Liu-Ambrose, T., Chester, V.L., Li, K., Helbostad, J.L., Allali, G. (2019). Brain gray matter volume associations with gait speed and related structural covariance networks in cognitively healthy individuals and in patients with mild cognitive impairment: A cross-sectional study. The Canadian Gait Consortium. Exp Gerontol., 122 (Jul), 116-122.

Sekhon, H., Allali, G., Launay, C., Barden, J., Szturm, T., Liu-Ambrose, T., Chester, V.L., Wong, C.H., Beauchet, O. (2019). Motoric cognitive risk syndrome, incident cognitive impairment and morphological brain abnormalities: Systematic review and meta-analysis. The Canadian Gait Consortium. Maturitas, Volume 123 (May), 45-54.

Pradhan, A., Kuruganti, U., Chester, V. (2018). Comparison of Bilateral and Unilateral Contractions and Limb Dominance on Pattern Classification Accuracy for Prosthesis Control. Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics, Volume 30(1), 15–19.