Robert Pryce, PhD., CAT(C)

Phone: 204.786.9341
Office: 3D26
Building: Duckworth Centre
Email: r.pryce@uwinnipeg.ca

Research Interests:
My research is in clinical biomechanics, with specific interests in obesity and spinal immobilization. The aim of my research on spinal immobilization is to understand the extent and determinants of head-neck motion in patients with potential spine injuries. Identifying circumstances that contribute to excessive head-neck motion is important as this is widely-accepted as the primary mechanism of secondary injury in spine-injured patients, and a large portion of pre-hospital emergency care focuses on protecting patients from potentially deleterious motion. Our research team is particularly interested in the pre-hospital and pre-triage aspects of care, which have been largely under-represented in existing literature.  

Our work in obesity biomechanics focuses on understanding how increased body mass relates to changes in body segment inertial parameters (BSIPs). Population-specific BSIPs are required for accurate models of forces and torques acting on the body and there are few estimates specific to individuals with increased body mass – and nearly none that address variations in mass distribution associated with obesity (i.e. different body shapes). One area of interest is understanding how these changes impact the low back during material handling tasks. We are currently developing techniques for estimating individual-specific BSIPs using consumer based 3D technology and identifying applications of this approach to other areas of health science.

Affiliations:
Adjunct Professor, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Manitoba
Certified Athletic Therapist, Canadian Association of Athletic Therapist

Courses:
KIN-3505: Pathology in Sports Medicine
KIN-3201: Biomechanics
KIN-4201: Applied Biomechanics

Publications
Hall N, McDonald G, Hay J, Stringer D, Pryce R Effect of activity type on youths’ physical activity during structured activity sessions. Health Behaviour and Policy Review.   in press

McDonald N, Pryce R Prehospital Spinal Immobilization: effect of effort on kinematics of voluntary head-neck motion assessed using accelerometry. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 2016 Feb; 31(1):36-42.

Pryce R, Kriellaars D Body segment inertial parameters and low back load in individuals with central adiposity. Journal of Biomechanics 2014 Sep 22;47(12):3080-6              

Pryce R, Johnson M, Goytan S, Passmore S, Kriellaars D The relationship of physical activity to pain, disability and health in lumbar spinal stenosis. 2012 Spine 37(15): 1316-32.