Campbell Received $1.1 Million for Osteopathic Research
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n anonymous philanthropic gift was recently made to Campbell University to support Dr. Tom Motyka’s research in musculoskeletal dysfunction and pain; specifically, identifying the mechanism in prolotherapy and the efficacy of OMT in increasing range of motion. Efficacy of OMT Thanks to the generous gift, the team purchased an Optitrack system with Theia3D software for motion capture of human subjects. The goal is testing for efficacy of OMT treatments comparing before and after for range of motion. The first step is capturing sample data and learning the system. “We are working with the software support folks to upload and evaluate test videos capturing us walking, running, jogging, squatting and lunging - standardized movements they use to train us to use the system properly,” explained Dr. Adam Foster, associate professor of anatomy, whose background is in biomechanics. “Our goal is to use this system to more precisely and reliably measure movements that can be prone to inter-observer measurement error. Once they have established proficiency with the system, the first study will examine the efficacy of OMT
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2021 ANNUAL REPORT
on the diaphragm to increase the range of motion. The team is already brainstorming future projects on the epidemiology of movement with large numbers of human subjects. “We can characterize gait or movement patterns in large sample sizes of people that may have important clinical or behavioral implications. For example, nursing home residents or migrant farmworkers, or just residents of Harnett County. That hasn’t really been done before.” Prolotherapy inflammatory marker cellular work: “Given the number of people who suffer from chronic pain and/ or motor dysfunction of joints, prolotherapy offers a potentially efficacious therapy to reduce pain and even stimulate healing processes while being minimally invasive and non-addictive.” “Although prolotherapy has been reported to reduce pain and improve mobility and function of joints, it has yet to gain a lot of traction in the medical world as a recommended therapy. There simply is not sufficient research yet, but that is the really exciting component of this research project—it is unchartered territory. Anything we find out will be new and helpful in better understanding this therapy and its potential to become
