High-tech help for athletes - Research summary
BACKGROUND: Considering the popularity of competitive sports in the United States, it's not surprising that 10 million sports injuries are treated each year across the nation. The National Institutes of Health says the most common sports injuries are sprains, strains, knee injuries, swollen muscles, Achilles tendon injuries, shin splints, fractures and dislocations. Sometimes, injuries are more serious. Concussions can cause brain damage that leads to amnesia, depression and personality changes. Sports injuries are not only reserved just for competitive sports -- they can take place while training, weight-lifting or simply going for a jog. In fact, a 2008 study at the University of North Carolina shows high school cheerleading accounted for 65 percent of all catastrophic sports injuries among high school women over the last 25 years.
Sports injuries fall into two categories: acute and chronic. Acute injuries occur suddenly while participating in a sport and include sprains, strains and fractures. Signs of this type of injury include sudden, severe pain; swelling; inability to place weight on a leg or other body part; a tender arm, elbow, wrist, hand or finger; extreme leg or arm weakness; and a bone or joint that it visibly out of place. Chronic injuries occur over time, and symptoms include pain when you exercise or play; a dull ache when you're at rest; and swelling. After a physician has diagnosed what type of injury an athlete has suffered, they choose from a variety of treatment options. Advances in technology are widening this pool of options and now include arthroscopy, where fiber optic scopes are inserted into the skin to see inside joints; tissue engineering, where doctors use a patient's own tissues or cells to heal the injury; and targeted pain relief, where pain-reducing patches are placed directly on the injured area.
PREVENTING INJURIES: Prevention of sports injuries relies on conditioning the body and monitoring how the body is used. A 2003 study in Australia pinpointed factors that prevent sports injuries. Among them were consistent exercise, consistent sports practice throughout the year and abstaining from alcohol. The study also pinpointed back problems as a significant factor in risk of injury on the field. Researchers found having a back problem increased likelihood of injury by 69 percent. Athletes that had high levels of endurance were also more protected from sports injuries.
Development of new technologies are enabling sports physicians to understand better what causes sports injuries, which in turn aids in preventing them. By monitoring how athletes carry out their repetitive movements, such as pitching a baseball, serving a tennis ball or throwing a football, experts can single out what types of movements strain the muscles and result in injury. In 2006, a new computer-based system entered the workplaces of physical therapists, giving them real-time, objective measurements of joint movement in patients' bodies. Called the Motion Monitor, the system uses electrodes to create animation of an athlete's movements. Researchers at the Ohio State University Sports Biomechanics Laboratory are also using breakthrough technology to examine athletes' movements in the same way you watch movie animation. Using high-speed motion capture cameras, hidden force plates in the floor and electromyography equipment, they create a 3-D animation of an individual's movement -- a creation they can slow down and look at from different angles. They are also using the equipment to look at the movement of people who have undergone total knee arthroplasty.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Ohio State University Sports Medicine Center
(614) 293-3600
sportsmedicine.osu.edu
