Advanced Physiotherapy
Designed for registered and qualified physiotherapists, this course gives you the opportunity to develop your knowledge and professional practice across a range of practical and theory-based units.&nb…
Dr María B. Sánchez Puccini
Research Associate (Physiotherapy)
I am a qualified physiotherapist, committed and passionate about research that combines clinical physiotherapy and objective movement analysis.
My profile
Biography
I am a Research Associate in the Health Professions Department. I am a qualified physiotherapist, committed and passionate about research that combines clinical physiotherapy and objective movement analysis. I have valuable experience, both clinical and research, in the treatment of patients (adult and children) and biomechanical analysis respectively.
I have experience working within a multidisciplinary team (health science, computer science, and clinical), and therefore have demonstrated strong clinical and scientific communication skills. I have published high-level journal articles as well as presented original research at scientific conferences both within and outside the UK.
I remain committed to science and determined to continue contributing to the field for the benefit of patients.
What I do
Interests and expertise
As a researcher, my main interest is to understand how and why, therapeutic interventions, that are traditionally done in physiotherapy, work.
Been a biomechanist, my main tool is movement analysis; this allows me to quantify movement and relate it to different situations or conditions.
My PhD work was based on the analysis of head and trunk movement of children with cerebral palsy, in relation to motor control. Currently I am working on the development of models to accurately measure the movement of the trunk in adults.
This interest is complemented by the work that I am an currently doing in relation to patellofemoral pain (PFP). For this project, we are trying to know how many people suffer from PFP, so that then we can identify associated risk factors that could be prevented. This information will also enable the generation of evidence-based practice guidelines both for the prevention of PFP and for the reduction of the impact PFP has in the quality of life of people.
Projects
Currently, I am working in the development of a three-dimensional model for the trunk to be used to evaluate the impact of different therapeutic interventions; for example interventions aim at reducing lower back pain.
I am also involved on the cultural validation of the Spanish version of the SNAPPS tool, so that it can be used to identify the incidence and prevalence of patellofemoral pain in Latin American countries.
Teaching
I am part of the teaching team in the “Biomechanical Analysis of the Lower Limb (BALL)” module in the MSc Advance Physiotherapy.
Research outputs
As a physiotherapist that decided to go back to academia and develop her research in biomechanics, I have valuable experience, both clinical and research: in the treatment of patients (adult and children) and biomechanical analysis respectively. This critical combination has given me vital scientific and people skills, which gives me the ability to carry out thorough scientific research with clinical and therapeutic applications in mind, while also appreciating the importance of caring for study participants.
As a biomechanist, my main research interest is the analysis and quantification of the human movement, specially the quantification of the movement of the trunk. Having a measure of the movement of the trunk helps to understand motor control development in typically developing children and in children with neuromuscular conditions, for example cerebral palsy.
Having a way to quantify the movement of the trunk is also useful to understand and evaluate the impact of musculoskeletal conditions, for example lower back pain, and relate it with other everyday activities, for example walking. We can evaluate how a person walks via a gait analysis.
I have worked within a multidisciplinary teams (health science, computer science, and clinical). I have published high-level journal articles as well as presented original research at scientific conferences both within and outside the UK.
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Journal articles
Sanchez Puccini, M.B., Selfe, J., Callaghan, M.J. (2021) 'The prevalence of patellofemoral pain in the Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) 2021 spectators: A protocol of a cross-sectional study.' PLoS One, 16(11) pp. e0260541-e0260541.
Sánchez, M.B., Cunningham, R., Butler, P., Loram, I. (2020) 'The feasibility of automated detection of the aligned trunk in sitting directly from raw video using a depth camera.' Gait & Posture, 81pp. 319-320.
Loram, I., Siddique, A., Sanchez Puccini, M.B.B., Harding, P., Silverdale, M., Kobylecki, C., Cunningham, R.J. (2020) 'Objective analysis of neck muscle boundaries for cervical dystonia using ultrasound imaging and deep learning.' IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 24(4) pp. 1016-1027.
Cunningham, R., Sánchez, M.B., Butler, P.B., Southgate, M.J., Loram, I.D. (2019) 'Fully automated image-based estimation of postural point-features in children with cerebral palsy using deep learning.' Royal Society Open Science, 6(11)
Darby, J., Sánchez, M.B., Bew, S., Loram, I., Butler, P. (2019) 'The development of a video retrieval system using a clinician-led approach.' Expert Systems with Applications, 142
Sanchez Puccini, M.B., Loram, I., Holmes, P., Darby, J., Butler, P. (2018) 'Working towards an objective segmental assessment of trunk control in children with cerebral palsy..' Gait and Posture, 65pp. 45-50.
Cunningham, R., Sánchez, M., May, G., Loram, I. (2018) 'Estimating Full Regional Skeletal Muscle Fibre Orientation from B-Mode Ultrasound Images Using Convolutional, Residual, and Deconvolutional Neural Networks.' Journal of Imaging, 4(2)
Sánchez, M.B., Loram, I., Darby, J., Holmes, P., Butler, P.B. (2017) 'The potential of an automated system to identify the upper limb component of a controlled sitting posture..' Gait & posture, 58pp. 223-228.
Sanchez, M., Loram, I., Darby, J., Holmes, P.S., Butler, P. (2016) 'Gait and Posture.' Gait and Posture, 51
Darby, J.G., Sánchez, M.B., Butler, P.B., Loram, I.D. (2016) 'An evaluation of 3D head pose estimation using the Microsoft Kinect v2.' Gait and Posture, 48pp. 83-88.
Ramírez-Vélez, R., Argothy-Bucheli, R., Sánchez-Puccini, M.B., Meneses-Echávez, J.F., López-Albán, C.A. (2015) 'Anthropometric and functional characteristics of Colombian elite long-distance runners.' Iatreia, 28(3) pp. 240-247.
Ramirez-Velez, R., Argothyd, R., Meneses-Echavez, J.F., Sanchez-Puccini, M.B., Lopez-Alban, C.A., Cohen, D.D. (2014) 'Anthropometric characteristics and physical performance of Colombian elite male wrestlers.' Asian Journal of Sports Medicine, 5(4)
Sánchez-Puccini, M.B., Argothy-Bucheli, R.E., Meneses-Echávez, J.F., López-Albán, C.A., Ramírez-Vélez, R. (2014) 'Anthropometric and physical fitness characterization of male elite karate athletes.' International Journal of Morphology, 32(3) pp. 1026-1031.
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Non-peer reviewed articles / reviews
Loram, I.D., Siddique, A., Sánchez, M.B., Harding, P., Silverdale, M., Kobylecki, C., Cunningham, R. (2019) Automated analysis of neck muscle boundaries for cervical dystonia using ultrasound imaging and deep learning.
Sanchez, M.B., Cunningham, R., Butler, P.B., Loram, I. (2018) Can machine learning automatically detect the aligned trunk in sitting directly from raw video using a depth camera?.
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Conference papers
Sánchez, M.B., Loram, I., Holmes, P., Darby, J., Butler, B.P. (2018) 'Quantification of head motion in children with cerebral palsy when testing segmental trunk control.' In 2018 IX International Seminar of Biomedical Engineering (SIB). Bogota, Colombia, 16/5/2018 - 18/5/2018. IEEE,
Sanchez Puccini, M., Loram, I., Darby, J., Holmes, P., Butler, P. (2015) 'Development and Validation of a Movement Evaluation System: Trunk Alignment.' In Conference Proceedings of the 7th Mmu Postgraduate Research Conference 2014 : Making an Impact with Research.
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Presentations
Sanchez Puccini, M., Loram, I., Holmes, P., Darby, J., Butler, P. (2018) Quantification of head motion in children with cerebral palsy when testing segmental trunk control.. [Presentation] 2018 IX International Seminar of Biomedical Engineering (SIB).,17/5/2018.
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Theses and dissertations
Sanchez Puccini, M.B. (2019) The development and validation of a movement evaluation system for children with cerebral palsy.
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Posters
Sanchez Puccini, M., Loram, I., Darby, J., Holmes, P., Butler, P. (2016) 'Quantification of Head Movement When Testing Segmental Trunk Control.' [Poster] In International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology, ISEK Meeting, Chicago – USA. Date viewed 8/7/2016.
Sanchez Puccini, M., Loram, I., Darby, J., Holmes, P., Butler, P. (2016) 'Posture of The Head And Trunk In Sitting: Quantification Of Alignment.' [Poster] In International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology, ISEK Meeting, Chicago – USA. Date viewed 7/7/2016.
Career history
Aug 2008
Start working as a clinical Physiotherapist in a private practice in Bogotá, Colombia
Sep 2008
Graduated as a Physiotherapist from the Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá, Colombia)
Sep 2010
Graduated of PgDip, Physical Exercise for Health from the Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá, Colombia)
Jan 2013
Awarded the Msc, Biomechanics of Gait and Posture , from Liverpool John Moores University, UK.
Dissertation: “Head movement quantification using 3D motion analysis while playing virtual reality games”.
Feb 2013
Started working as a Lecturer for the Kinesiology and Movement Analysis module in the Physical Exercise for Health PgDip, at the Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá, Colombia)
Jun 2013
Started working as a Lecturer / Researcher in Physiotherapy at the Universidad Manuela Beltrán (Bogotá, Colombia)
May 2017
Started working as a Research Assistant – Physiotherapy, in the School or Healthcare Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
Aug 2017
Awarded the PhD, Healthcare Science from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
With the thesis: “The development and validation of a movement evaluation system for children with Cerebral Palsy”.
Aug 2019
Started working as a Research Associate – Physiotherapy, in the Department of Health Professions, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Mar 2020
Joined the SNAPPS project team.