News

Sandy Takata Publishes New Manuscript Referencing Values of Median Median Nerve Cross-Sectional Area ⟩
January 4, 2019

Congratulations once again to MSOP’s PhD student Sandy Takata on her latest manuscript publication in BioMed Central that describes how sonographic reference values of median nerve cross-sectional areas can be utilized to diagnose median nerve pathology. A comprehensive set of normative reference values of median nerve cross-sectional area have the potential to provide a basis upon which further studies can investigate preclinical stages of median nerve pathology. Additionally, these values can act as a resource for identifying meaningful clinical differences in tissue morphology. Read the full text ⟩

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Visitors From China ⟩
December 19, 2018

On December 19, 2018 we were visited by members of the China Disabled Federation. Dongmei Li — Vice Director, Department of Education and Employment, Vice Director, Associate Researcher, China Rehabilitation Research Center; Tanling Wang — Associate Investigator, Social Service Section; Zixing Wang — Project leader, innovation and development department, university planning, construction and development center, Ministry of Education, P.R. China; Shuaihua Lin — Senior Staff, Educational Section, Department of Education and Employment; and Hong Zhang — Prof. of Translation/Interpretation (English); Project leader of International Communication, General Office were all on hand to learn and acquire greater knowledge of our research here at USC. Led by Associate Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy Daniel Park and Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy China Initiative Coordinator Adley Chan, our visitors were well versed in the occupational sciences and many of the funded research project here at USC. Dongmei Li even commented on how preventative research dealing with the focus on the median nerve cross sectional area was very important work!

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Takata Authors New Publication on Identifying Aberrant Muscles in the Carpal Tunnel ⟩
October 30, 2018

Congratulations to MSOP’s PhD student Sandy Takata on her newest publication in the Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography that describes how sonography can assist in identifying long flexor and lumbrical muscle bellies within the carpal tunnel. Proper identification of these structures and evaluation their relative impact on the median nerve may be important to understanding nerve compression or entrapment for prevention and treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. Read the full text ⟩

Image Above: Serial sonographic images of the left carpal tunnel at the level of the pisiform. The participant was asked to open her hand with extended fingers (A), slowly flex her fingers to make a fist (B), hold the fist position for one second (C), and extend the fingers once again (D). As the participant makes a fist, the long flexor muscle belly (white arrow in A) retracts proximally into the forearm and is replaced by the flexor tendon (gray arrow in B). When the fingers are fully flexed, the lumbricals enter the carpal tunnel (blue arrows in C). Once the fingers return to extension, the long flexor muscle belly is seen in the tunnel once again (white arrow in D).

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Standing Room Only at ASHT 2018 Presentation ⟩
September 21, 2018

Shawn Roll and Sandy Takata provided a successful and VERY well received presentation to a standing-room only audience at the 2018 conference of the American Society of Hand Therapists. The team presented on the use of sonographic imaging to better understand individual anatomical differences and the relative movements of structures within the carpal tunnel during functional hand use.  Did you know that in some people you can actually pinpoint the exact movement, motion, or activity causes compression or entrapment of the median nerve?!  Using musculoskeletal sonography to illuminate individual anatomical variants and risk factors for nerve compression is a perfect example of a precision medicine approach that assists therapists in targeting interventions to prevent, manage, or rehabilitate carpal tunnel syndrome.  Read more about this and other active projects on our research page.

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MSOP Welcomes New Undergraduate Research Assistants ⟩
September 1, 2018

Kayla Gan and Annie Lee, students enrolled in Chan Division B.S. in Occupational Science program, have joined the lab for the 2018-19 academic year as part of the USC Undergraduate Research Associates Program (URAP).  With funding from the USC Office of Undergraduate Education, the goal of this program is to support engagement of undergraduate students in collaborative research experiences with faculty.  The students selected for this program will be directly engaged in MSOP research evaluating the use of sonographic imaging for early identification of median nerve pathology.  Specifically, the research associates will be evaluating dynamic sonographic images to categorize movements and changes to the structure of the median nerve while individuals open and close their hands.  These students will gain first hand experience and learn more about musculoskeletal anatomy, sonographic imaging, and the dynamic interactions that may be linked to the development of median nerve pathology.

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