The study of the forces acting on a living body and the patterns of movement caused by the forces, provides insight to improving skill performance, understanding the process of skill development, and identifying the etiology of overuse injuries. The Biomechanics Lab is equipped with instrumentation for the collection and analysis of force, muscle activity and video data.
Internal muscle force interacts with external forces from gravity, friction, and contact with other bodies to cause all observed human movements and injuries. Force data analysis is fundamental to understanding movement patterns and injury.
This extremely sensitive electronic scale uses a strain-gauge based system to measure and record ground reaction forces in 3-dimensions (vertical, forward/backward, side to side). It provides information on the magnitude and timing of force application. The force platform has been installed in the lab, flush with the floor. It is synchronized with the high speed video analysis system.
High-speed optical data collection (200 fields per second) data allows for extensive qualitative or quantitative analyses of movement. In conjunction with force platform data, our optical capture system helps quantify dynamic joint function (moments of force and mechanical power).
Muscle activation is an electrochemical conversion of energy substrates to mechanical tension. Surface EMG records the electrical activity present in a muscle, providing information on the sequence and duration of muscle activity and the relative amount of force produced.
The collection, processing, and presentation of biomechanics data is computer intensive. All custom lab software was developed by the lab director using QuickBasic to run on Pentium based computers. A 64-channel Analog/Digital multiplexor board installed in the data collection computer allows for simultaneous sampling of force and/or EMG synchronized with the optical capture system.
