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News Release Dec. 12, 2006
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| With
reflective markers
attached to his legs
and torso, Bronco place kicker David Lowery jumps over a hurdle in the Center for Orthopaedic and Biomechanics Research at Boise State University as part of a research project to study how different types of football cleats perform on artificial turf. Bronco tight end Tommy Gallarda, pictured at left, waits for his turn to participate. |
But in the rough-and-tumble world of college athletics, injuries are a definite
concern, and efforts are being made both on and off the playing field to find
new ways to keep them from occurring.
Right across the street from Bronco Stadium inside the Micron Engineering Center,
Boise State’s Michelle Sabick is conducting research that could help keep
athletes healthy and also improve their performance.
Sabick, co-director of the Center for Orthopaedic and Biomechanics Research, has
even tapped Bronco football players for her research, including studies
conducted last August to examine how different types of football cleats perform
on artificial turf and earlier studies to analyze the throwing techniques of
Bronco quarterbacks.
“Coach Pete and other members of Boise State athletic programs have been great
to work with, and we’ve really appreciated their support,” said Sabick, who is
an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical
Engineering.
As part of her research studies, Sabick and her colleagues and students use the
latest 3-D computer animation technology to analyze the specific movements
athletes make when they throw, jump, cut or run. The motion-capture technology
is the same as that used by filmmakers to create characters such as Gollum in
“Lord of the Rings” or in other animated films and video games.
By tracking exactly how athletes move when they perform specific maneuvers such
as throwing a ball or landing hard one foot, researchers can analyze the
stresses put on joints and muscles and the factors that could lead to injury or
that could enhance performance.
Basically, the technology works like this: Reflective markers are attached to a
test subject who is then directed to perform a specific physical maneuver. Six
infrared cameras record the movement of each marker and log it into a computer.
A stick-figure is then created from the marker data, and the computer fills in
the skeleton to make a moving 3-D image that researchers can analyze and glean a
variety of statistics from.
For example, during studies conducted earlier this fall on football cleat
performance, BSU mechanical engineering student Rafael Garcilazo attached
reflective markers to Bronco place kicker David Lowery. Garcilazo then directed
Lowery to jump over a hurdle; at the last second a light flashed to let the
player know whether to cut left or right or run straight. By analyzing the
computer-generated data, Garcilazo could then determine such information as
which cleat design enabled the player to move most quickly and which cleat best
cushioned the player from impact when he landed on the turf.
While the study was a small one, Sabick is hoping her lab will have
opportunities in the future to continue this line of research with funding from
the National Football League or other athletic organizations. It’s just one of
many of promising areas of study BSU researchers in a variety of disciplines
have pursued since the Center for Orthopaedic and Biomechanics Research was
first established in 2003.
“There’s still a lot we don’t know about the factors that contribute to sports
injuries,” said Sabick, who earned a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the
University of Iowa and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Mayo Clinic.
“It’s a fascinating field of study.”
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Contact: Michelle Sabick, College of Engineering, (208) 426-5653,
msabick@boisestate.edu
Media Contact: Janelle Brown, University Communications, (208) 426-1790,
jbrown2@boisestate.edu
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Last reviewed on Wednesday, January 03, 2007
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