Projects

Foot & Ankle | Footwear | Hamstring
Injury Prevention | OA | Therapeutic Interventions
Affiliated Projects

Injury Prevention

Current Projects | Completed Projects

Current Projects

The Effect of Different Jump Landing Tasks on Lower Extremity Kinematics and Kinetics

Approximately 80,000 ACL injuries occur annually within the United States and out of these injuries, 50,000 require surgical reconstruction. Over the past few years the study of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries has been a predominate portion of the biomechanics literature. This research has focused on the mechanism of injuries caused without contact. Most of the authors believe that non-contact ACL injuries result from poor body position caused by sudden changes in direction or sudden alterations to the player’s environment. ACL injuries occurs as a result of a non-contact episode during the landing or stance phase of “high-risk” sporting postures such as sidestepping or pivoting. One of the most frequent mechanisms of non-contact ACL injury is a plant and pivot maneuver, which involves internal rotation of the tibia as well as a valgus positioning of the knee, placing larger loads across the ACL. Commonly movements that result in ACL injuries incorporate a sudden deceleration phase on impact, accompanied by a rapid speed and/or directional change to evade an oncoming defensive opponent. Other mechanisms of non-contact ACL injuries include landing with straight knees, landing on one foot with a hyper-extended knee, and a sudden deceleration. Most of the previous ACL injury studies have been completed while subjects were performing various landing tasks from a stop jump task to landing from a box.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate differences between genders when performing three different landing tasks. These three tasks will be landing after heading a soccer ball, landing from a box that is 20 inches high, and performing a stop-jump task. It is hypothesized that the female subjects will have a significantly different knee, hip and ankle frontal and transverse plane kinematics when compared with the male subjects during each of the three landing tasks. In addition, we hypothesize that during the three different tasks that the landing following the heading task will result in a statistically differnt knee, hip and ankle frontal and transverse plane kinematics when compared to the other two landing tasks. The results of this study may aid in determining which of these three landing tasks would be best to use when screening individuals for potential injury risk.

Each subject will be tested in the same type of running shoe in order to decrease the effect of different shoe types on landing mechanics. A total of 60 subjects will be tested, with and equal number of men and women. Subjects will range in age from 18-30 years and will be recruited by word of mouth as well as advertisements. Subjects will have no history of lower extremity injuries in the past six months, no history of ACL reconstructive surgery within the past 3 years, will qualify as being either physically active or playing soccer competitively. To be considered as physically active the subject will have to be currently participating in some form of physical activity at least three times a week for approximately an hour each time.

A total of eight infrared cameras (Motion Analysis, Inc, Santa Rosa, CA) will be positioned around the lab in order to record the trajectories of the retro-reflective markers, which will be placed on the subjects. The cameras will be sampling at 120Hz, while the ground reaction force data will be collected using two AMTI (Watertown, MA) force platforms at a rate of 1200Hz A total of 40 markers will be placed on each subject at different anatomic landmarks. Subjects will be asked to complete six trials of each jumping task. The testing order will be randomized by the tester. During the drop jump task, the subject will be asked to stand on a box that is approximately 20 inches high and to drop down onto a floor and then immediately jump back into the air. The second jumping task will be sport specific to soccer. The subjects will be asked to start at a position that is half of their body height away from the center of the force plate. They will then be asked to jump over a 3 inch cone, which will be placed half way between the start position and the force plates, and to land on the force plates. The subject will then be instructed to jump up as quickly as possible and perform a jump header (the center of the ball will be at 50% of the subject’s maximum jump height) and then be asked to land back on the force plate. The last task will be a stop-jump task in which the subjects will be asked to take a two step approach, jump onto the force plates, jump as high as they can and land back on the force plates. Each of these maneuvers will be demonstrated for the subjects and the subjects will be allowed 3 practice trials in order to get used to performing the tasks. Subjects will be given at least a 30 second rest between each trial and a two minute rest between jumping conditions.

Project Status:

Pilot Testing is currently underway on this project

The Effect of Shoe Type and Gender on Landing Kinetics, Kinematics, and In-shoe Pressure Distributions

The purpose of this study is to evaluate differences between genders when performing a functional landing, after heading a soccer ball, in three different footwear conditions. The three footwear conditions will be a neutral cushioning running shoe, a turf cleat, and a bladed soccer cleat. It is hypothesized that the female subjects will have a greater increase in knee, hip and ankle frontal and transverse plane kinematics between the running shoe and cleated conditions. The results of this study may implicate a need for differential production for outdoor cleat designs for women.

This study is designed to determine the effect of different shoe types on both lower extremity kinematics, kinetics, and plantar pressure during the landing phase of both a standard landing task as well as a sport specific landing task. Three different types of shoes will be tested: 1) turf shoe, 2) neutral, cushioning running shoe and 3) a firm ground bladed cleat. A total of 40 subjects will be tested, with and equal number of men and women. Subjects will range in age from 18-30 years and will be recruited by word of mouth as well as advertisements. Women will need to wear either a size 8 or 9 shoe, while the men will need to wear either a size 9.5 or 10.5 shoe. Subjects will have no history of lower extremity injuries in the past six months, no history of ACL reconstructive surgery within the past 3 years, will qualify as being either physically active or playing soccer competitively. To be considered as physically active the subject will have to be currently participating in some form of physical activity at least three times a week for approximately an hour each time. To be considered as a competitive soccer player the subject will have to be engaged in practice or play in soccer games at least 2 times per week. Each subject will be asked to read and sign the informed consent approved by the institutional review board. In addition, an injury history will be taken for each subject using the attached questionnaire.

The pressures under the plantar surface of the foot will be measured using the Pedar-X system (Novel, St. Paul MN). Connected to the insoles via cables the Pedar-X system has a small unit that contains electronics capable of performing an A/D conversion. From this unit, attached to the subject’s waist, data is transferred using wireless Bluetooth technology to a laptop computer where the data will be stored, processed, and analyzed. Prior to the data collection session, the insoles will be calibrated using the Novel calibration device. The insoles will be sampled at 100 Hz for approximately 20 seconds. Subjects will be tested in each one of the three shoes. Each subject will be asked to bring their cleats on the day of testing and a picture will be taken as well as the brand of shoe and type of cleat configuration will be recorded. The shoe testing order will be randomized by having the subjects draw a card from a hat with the first shoe, then the second shoe, and so on. The shoe testing order will be recorded for each subject. Once the testing order has been determined, the subject will be asked to sit down while the size appropriate insoles are inserted into the first test shoe. The insoles will be secured to the leg using a Nylatex^Ò wrap (elastic wrap with Velcro on the end).

Publication Status:

Abstracts:

Robert J. Butler and Robin M. Queen. The Effect of Footwear on Landing Mechanics During a Soccer Specific Jumping Task. APTA Combined Sections Annual Meeting (Sports Section), Nashville, TN, 2008

Alicia N. Abbey, Robert J Butler, Robin M. Queen. Effect of Footwear on Lower Extremity Secondary Plane Movements During a Soccer Specific Jumping. American College of Sports Medicine, Seattle, WA, 2009 (In Review)

Articles:

Articles are currently in preparation.

Wrist Injuries in Golf

As many as 62% of golfers suffer a swing related injury during any given year. The most common injuries involve the back, left wrist and left elbow (for right-handers). These problems are mainly due to poor swing mechanics. With better mechanics, many of these injures can be prevented. The purpose of this study is to determine the kinematics (the study of motion independent of the forces that cause motion) of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist during the golf swing in attempt to improve athletic performance, analyze movement disorder and rehabilitate injuries.

Subjects have retro-reflective markers attached to their upper extremities (i.e. arms) at pre-determined places. The markers are secured with a clear adhesive dressing and/or athletic tape. These markers are tracked using a special camera (8 camera Motion Analysis system (Motion Analysis Inc, Santa Rosa, CA) sampling at 240 Hz). Subjects are then asked to stand, for approximately 1 second, within the field of view of the cameras for a static standing trial to be collected. This trial is used during data reduction to calculate shoulder, elbow, and wrist joint centers. Once the standing trial is collected, the medial markers are removed for the swing trails. Subjects are given 3 practice swings in order to become comfortable with the markers and swing speed. Subjects swing their own 5-iron and hit regulation golf balls off of a golf mat into a practice net. Once comfortable with swing speed, subjects are asked to complete 5 full swings simulating playing conditions. During these 5 swings kinematic (motion) data will be recorded.

We are hoping to compare swing patterns between low (sub 5) and high (10+) handicap golfers.

Publication Status:

Abstracts:

Robin M. Queen, Gregory G. Fedorcik, Alicia N. Abbey, Claude T. Moorman, III, David S. Ruch. Differences in Wrist Kinematics between Low and High Handicap Golfers. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Volume 40 (S5): 2008.

Articles:

Articles are currently in preparation.

Completed Projects

Gender Differences in 3 Different Soccer Kicking Tasks

The purpose of this study is to determine if any biomechanical or muscle activation differences exist between men and women when completing 3 different soccer kicking tasks in a laboratory setting. This study will focus specifically on the hip joint, pelvis angles and moments as well as hip adductors and abdominal

muscle activation during a side foot pass, a maximal instep shot and a cross. The goal of this study is to determine if kicking mechanics could be one possible explanation for the frequency difference in chronic groin injuries between men and women. The positions of the hip, leg, and torso are important for injury prevention in kicking sports such as soccer. We hypothesize that women will exhibit different kicking mechanics and muscle activation allowing their groin to remain in a more favorable position for injury prevention during a soccer kick. In addition, we hypothesize that men will display greater muscle activations. With the increase in the muscle activation in men, the male subjects might exhibit an increase in peak hip extension angle, peak hip flexion angle, and increased trunk rotation potentially resulting in the increased activation in the rectus abdominus and obliques. The results of this study could help to explain why chronic groin injuries occur predominately in male soccer players.

The three kicking tasks are a side foot pass, a maximal instep shot, and a cross. A net will be placed approximately 5-10 feet in front of a stationary ball located on top of the a series of four force plates. The subjects will be asked to perform 5-7 trials of each of the three kicking tasks. Three-dimensional motion capture, electromyographic (EMG), and ground reaction force data will be collected for each subject during each type of kick. Subjects will range in age from 18-30 years and will be recruited by word of mouth and posted fliers. All subjects must have no history of a chronic groin injury and must be competitive soccer players. Subjects who practice or play in soccer games at least 2 times per week will be considered to be competitive athletes. Subjects also will have no history of lower extremity injuries in the past six months, no history of ACL reconstructive surgery within the past 3 years and will be physically active. Subjects who participate in some form of physical activity at least three times a week for approximately an hour each time will be considered to be physically active.

Different information about the hip, knee, and ankle will be obtained from the three-dimensional kinematic data during the approach and kick for each of the 3 different kicking tasks. For each of these dependent variables a 2 X 3 repeated measures ANOVA will be performed with gender (male, female) as one factor and kicking type (a maximal instep shot, and a crossing kick) as the other factor. If a significant gender by kicking task interaction exists, post hoc testing will be performed using Tukey’s post hoc analysis to determine which parameters are statistically different.

Publication Status:

Abstracts:

Robin M. Queen, Brian L. Charnock, William E. Garrett, Jr. Hip Kinematics During Three Soccer Kicking Tasks. North American Congress on Biomechanics, Ann Arbor, MI, 2008.

Articles:

Articles are currently in preparation.

Adductor Longus Vulnerability in the Maximal Effort Soccer Kick

The purpose of this study was to examine the biomechanical and muscle activation patterns during a maximal soccer kick in male soccer players in an attempt to better understand when during the kicking cycle they are at greatest risk for adductor longus muscle injury. This study focused specifically on the hip joint, pelvis angles and moments as well as hip adductors and abdominal

muscle activation during a maximal instep shot. The positions of the hip, leg, and torso are important for injury prevention in kicking sports such as soccer. We hypothesized that the adductor would be eccentrically contracting in the middle of swing phase as the player reached the top of the back swing and that this would therefore be the time that the adductor was at greatest risk for injury based on what is currently known about muscle strain injuries. The results of this study could help to explain why chronic groin injuries occur predominately in soccer players and other kicking athletes based on leg position.

A net was placed approximately 5-10 feet in front of a stationary ball located on top of the a series of four force plates. The subjects will be asked to perform 5-7 trials of maximal in step soccer kick. Three-dimensional motion capture, electromyographic (EMG), and ground reaction force data will be collected for each subject. Subjects will range in age from 18-30 years and will be recruited by word of mouth and posted fliers. All subjects must have no history of a chronic groin injury and must be competitive soccer players. Subjects who practice or play in soccer games at least 2 times per week will be considered to be competitive athletes. Subjects also will have no history of lower extremity injuries in the past six months, no history of ACL reconstructive surgery within the past 3 years and will be physically active. Subjects who participate in some form of physical activity at least three times a week for approximately an hour each time will be considered to be physically active.

Different information about the hip, knee, and ankle will be obtained from the three-dimensional kinematic data during the approach and kick during the maximal in step soccer kick. The information obtained from the three dimensional analysis will be used in a musculoskeletal model. From this model we obtained adductor muscle length as well as the rate of change of the adductor longus in order to better understand the changes in muscle length throughout the kicking cycle.

Publication Status:

Abstracts:

Brian L. Charnock, Cara L. Lewis, William E. Garrett, Jr., Robin M. Queen. Adductor Longus Vulnerability in the Maximal Effort Soccer Kick. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Volume 40 (S5): 2008.

Articles:

Brian L. Charnock, Cara L. Lewis, William E. Garrett, Robin M. Queen. Adductor Longus Vulnerability in the Maximal Effort Soccer Kick. American Journal of Sports Medicine (In Review)