Robert Brownstone  

Janie Astephen Wilson, PhD

Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
Dalhousie University


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Tel: (902) 494-1941

Research

Biomechanics of knee osteoarthritis

Dr. Janie Astephen Wilson is shedding light on the complex biomechanical factors that initiate and maintain the gradual destruction of cartilage in the knee, leading to increasingly painful osteoarthritis. One of the leading causes of immobility in Canada and around the world, knee osteoarthritis also puts people at risk of other chronic diseases related to physical inactivity, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Dr. Astephen Wilson’s evidence will help her colleagues develop early treatment and management strategies to delay or prevent the need for total knee replacement surgery.

Dr. Astephen Wilson is involved in nationally and locally-funded team projects, including an ACOA Altantic Innovation Fund-supported project to develop a low-dose radiographic imaging technique for assessment of outcomes following paediatric surgery, led by Dr. Ron El-Hawary. She holds funding from NSERC, Canadian MSK Rehab Research Network, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation, Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation to:

  • develop mathematical and computer modeling techniques to analyze joint kinetics (force loading, muscle activation and gait patterns) during walking in knee osteoarthritis
  • investigate the biomechanical and neuromuscular mechanisms that pre-dispose the failure of knee replacement surgeries
    develop scalable biomechanical modeling of joint and muscle forces in the study of knee osteoarthritis
  • examine the impact of obesity, gender and other risk factors on joint kinetics and the development of knee osteoarthritis.

Academic background

Janie Astephen Wilson began her academic career in the fields of mathematics and mechanical engineering, earning a B.Sc.E from Queen’s University, Ontario. Her interest in applying these disciplines to human health led her to Dalhousie University, where she completed an M.Sc. and PhD in the School of Biomedical Engineering. She worked as a research engineer for the Institute of Biomechanics and Surgical Design at the University of Bern, Switzerland, and has pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in medical imaging at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Dr. Astephen Wilson returned to Dalhousie in 2008 to accept a faculty position in the School of Biomedical Engineering.

 Selected Publications

Harding G, Dunbar MJ, Stanish WD, Hubley-Kozey CL, Astephen Wilson JL. .(2016).  Obesity and the presence of moderate knee osteoarthritis affect tibiofemoral contact forces during gait. Clinical Biomechanics. 31: 79-86.

Astephen Wilson JL, Stanish WD, Hubley-Kozey CL..(2016).  Individuals with radiographic knee osteoarthritis walk with different knee mechanics than symptomatic individuals with the same radiographic evidence. Journal of Orthopaedic Research.

Tam N, Tucker R, Astephen Wilson JL. .(2016).  Individual responses to a barefoot running program: Insight into risk of injury.  The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 44(3): 777-84.

Tam N, Astephen Wilson JL, Coetzee DR, van Pletsen L, Tucker R..(2016).  Loading rate increases during barefoot running in habitually shod runners: Individual responses to an unfamiliar condition. Gait and Posture. 46: 47-52.

Astephen Wilson JL, Dunbar MJ, Hubley-Kozey CL.(2015).  Knee joint biomechanics and neuromuscular control before and after total knee arthroplasty surgery are sex-specific.  Journal of Arthroplasty. 30(1):118-25.

KL Young, MJ Dunbar, G Richardson, JL Astephen Wilson. (2015).  Intraoperative Passive Knee Kinematics during Total Knee Arthroplasty Surgery.  Journal of Orthopedic Research. 33(11): 1611-9.

Tam N, Tucker R, Astephen Wilson JL, Santos-Concejero J.(2015).  Effect on oxygen cost of transport from 8-weeks of progressive training with barefoot running. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 36(13):1100-5.

Amiri P, Hubley-Kozey CL, Landry SC, Stanish WD, Astephen Wilson, JL.(2015).  Obesity is associated with prolonged activity of the quadriceps and gastrocnemii during gait.  Journal of Electromography and Kinesiology. 25(6): 951-958.

Tam N, Astephen Wilson JL, Noakes TD, Tucker R. (2014).  Barefoot Running: An Evaluation of Current Hypotheses, Future Research, and Clinical Applications. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 48(5): 349-355.

Wilson DA, Astephen Wilson JL, Richardson G, Dunbar MJ. (2014).  Changes in the functional flexion axis of the knee before and after total knee arthroplasty using a navigation system.  Journal of Arthroplasty. 29(7): 1388-93.

Robbins SM , Astephen Wilson JL , Rutherford DJ , Hubley-Kozey CL. (2013).  Reliability of principal components and discrete parameters of knee angle and moment gait waveforms in individuals with moderate knee osteoarthritis. Gait & posture. 38(3): 421-427.

Harding GT , Hubley-Kozey CL , Dunbar MJ , Stanish WD , Astephen Wilson JL. (2012).  Body mass index affects knee joint mechanics during gait differently with and without moderate knee osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis and cartilage / OARS, Osteoarthritis Research Society. 20(11): 1234-42.

Wilson DA , Hubley-Kozey CL , Asteohen Wilson JL , Dunbar MJ. (2012).  Pre-operative muscle activation patterns during walking are associated with TKA tibial implant migration. Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon). 27(9): 936-942.

Astephen Wilson JL. (2012).  Challenges in dealing with walking speed in knee osteoarthritis gait analyses. Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon). 27(3): 210-212.

Roda RD , Astephen Wilson JL , Wilson DA , Richardson G , Dunbar MJ. (2012).  The knee adduction moment during gait is associated with the adduction angle measured during computer-assisted total knee arthroplasty. The Journal of arthroplasty. 27(6): 1244-50.

Astephen Wilson JL, Wilson DAJ, Dunbar MJ, Deluzio KJ. (2010) Preoperative gait patterns and BMI are associated with postoperative tibial component migration in total knee arthroplasty. Acta Orthopaedica (Accepted — In Press).

Wilson DAJ, Astephen JL, Hennigar AW, Dunbar MJ. (2009) Inducible Displacement of a Trabecular Metal Tibial Monoblock Component. Journal of Arthroplasty. Aug 17.

Hatfield G, Hubley-Kozey CL, Dunbar MJ, Astephen Wilson JL. 2010. The effect of total knee arthroplasty on knee joint kinematics and kinetics during gait. Journal of Arthroplasty (Accepted — In Press).

Hubley-Kozey CL, Hatfield G, Astephen Wilson JL, Dunbar MJ. 2010. Alterations in neuromuscular patterns between pre and one-year post-total knee arthroplasty. Clinical Biomechanics (Accepted — In Press).

Astephen Wilson JL, Deluzio KJ, Dunbar MJ, Hubley-Kozey CL. (2010) A Multivariate Model of Knee Osteoarthritis Severity. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage (Submitted).

Astephen JL, Deluzio KJ, Caldwell GE, Dunbar MJ, Hubley-Kozey CL. (2008) Gait and Neuromuscular Patterns Associated with Differences in Knee Osteoarthritis Severity Levels. Journal of Biomechanics. 41(4), 868-76.

Astephen JL, Deluzio KJ, Caldwell GE, Dunbar MJ. (2007) Biomechanical Changes at the Hip, Knee and Ankle Joints During Gait are Associated with Knee Osteoarthritis Severity. Journal of Orthopedic Research. Mar 26(3), 332-41.

Deluzio KJ, Astephen JL. (2007) Biomechanical Features of Gait Waveform Data Associated with Knee Osteoarthritis. An Application of Principal Component Analysis. Gait and Posture. Jan 25(1), 86 — 93.

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