Mechanical properties, safety and resistance values of Lemgruber® elastic tubing

Fabiano Francisco de Lima; Carlos Augusto Camillo; Elton Aparecido Prado Dos Reis; Aldo Eloizo Job; Bruna Spolador de Alencar Silva; Marko Topalovic; Dionei Ramos; Ercy Mara Cipulo Ramos

doi:10.1016/j.bjpt.2018.07.001

Mechanical properties, safety and resistance values of Lemgruber^® elastic tubing

Braz J Phys Ther. 2019 Jan-Feb;23(1):41-47. doi: 10.1016/j.bjpt.2018.07.001. Epub 2018 Jul 17.

Authors

Fabiano Francisco de Lima¹, Carlos Augusto Camillo², Elton Aparecido Prado Dos Reis³, Aldo Eloizo Job³, Bruna Spolador de Alencar Silva¹, Marko Topalovic⁴, Dionei Ramos¹, Ercy Mara Cipulo Ramos⁵

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Fisioterapia, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Presidente Prudente, SP, Brazil.
² Departamento de Fisioterapia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Reabilitação, Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL) / Universidade do Norte do Paraná (UNOPAR), Londrina, PR, Brazil.
³ Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Presidente Prudente, SP, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Laboratory of Pneumology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁵ Departamento de Fisioterapia, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Presidente Prudente, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: ercy@fct.unesp.br.

Abstract

Background: Lemgruber^® elastic tubing has been used as an adjunct to exercise training with positive effects in healthy adults and in patients with chronic lung disease. Despite its benefits, there is a lack of information on the specific resistance, elongation, reproducibility and safety of the different types of Lemgruber^® elastic tubing.

Objectives: The primary outcome was to assess the length-resistance relation (E/R) of five Lemgruber^® elastic tubing of different diameters. Secondary outcomes included the development of reference equations of resistance according to elongation of Lemgruber^® elastic tubing types and; the description of Lemgruber^® elastic tubing safety and; the description of elongation of Lemgruber^® elastic tubing using a clinically useful outcome (i.e. range of motion, in degrees).

Methods: The relation between elongation and resistance of Lemgruber^® elastic tubing was investigated in a laboratory environment. Secondly, reference equations for the resistance according to the elongation in each Lemgruber^® elastic tubing were calculated. Finally, the elongation of the tubing during movements in different degrees of range of motion were estimated using mathematical models, so that the resistance provided by the tubing for any exercise could be predicted.

Results: Lemgruber^® elastic tubing provided a large array of resistance varying from 3±0.1Newtons (N) to 537±13N (mean±standard deviation). The maximal resistance deemed safe for each of the five Lemgruber^® elastic tubing were: 173±25N, 280±23N, 409±40N, 395±37N and 537±13N. Reference equations had nearly perfect predictive power (r²=0.99) for all polynomial non-linear models (p<0.001 for all).

Conclusions: Lemgruber elastic tubing progressively increased resistance with increased elongation. The large array of resistances delivered by Lemgruber^® elastic tubing, along with its safety and good estimation of reference values, support its use in clinical practice.

Keywords: Elastic resistance; Exercise; Resistance training.

MeSH terms

Biomechanical Phenomena
Exercise / physiology*
Exercise Therapy / instrumentation*
Humans
Reproducibility of Results
Stress, Mechanical