Team Neuromechanical Attends WFC’s 11th Biennial Congress in Rio

Neuromechanical Innovations’ CEO, Dr. Chris Colloca and his wife Mindy, along with instructors Dr. Jim Gudgel and Terry Peterson and their wives attended the World Federation of Chiropractic’s (WFC) 11th Biennial Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 6-9, 2011.   The event was the first WFC Congress held in South America and attracted nine hundred DCs and chiropractic students from around the world.

The role of sports injury and chiropractic was the general theme of the conference with plenary sessions provided by some of the world’s experts in the field.  Models of Chiropractic practice around the world and the current status of spinal manipulation was presented in other sessions while concurrent technique workshops and original research rounded out the presentations.

Dr. Colloca was invited to present his original research as a platform presentation, one of only 36 presentations selected from over 200 scientific papers submitted to the conference.  Dr. Colloca’s study, A Prospective Biomechanical Investigation into the Quantification of Manipulable Spinal Lesions: An In Vivo Ovine Model of Spondylolysis and Intervertebral Disc Degeneration, stems from his research conducted annually in Australia at the Adelaide Centre for Spinal Research sponsored by The William M. Harris Family Foundation, CBP Non-profit, Inc., and the International Spine Research Foundation. 

The study explored differences in dynamic spinal stiffness and neuromuscular responses as measured with needle EMG among normal animals and those with spinal lesions.  Dr. Colloca reported significant increases in spinal stiffness at various frequencies that objectively differentiated the groups as well as less vertebral motion during spinal manipulation.  Animals with disc degeneration were also observed to have neuromuscular inhibition likely related to their disc status.  This research adds to the growing body of evidence produced by the research team providing novel insights into quantifying spinal pathology non-invasively and perhaps a future means to biomechanically assess outcomes of chiropractic care.

In the Exhibit hall, Neuromechanical’s Instrument Adjusting Headquarters® booth proved to be one of the most popular.  Drs. Gudgel and Peterson went through four rolls of face paper and adjusted an estimated 400 attendees, students, and guests.  The Brazilian chiropractors were fascinated with the technology of instrument adjusting, especially in observing the functionality of the computerized impulse iQ in action.
Throughout the conference, WFC president, Dr. Michael Flynn did a spectacular job of representing the United States on the World Chiropractic stage and together with the leadership of WFC Secretary-General, David Chapman-Smith, unquestionably chiropractic’s growth and acceptance world-wide is in the best possible hands.  The next Biennial WFC Congress will be held in April, 2013 in Durban, South Africa.
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