Re-training runners in real time

Physical therapy researchers have applied biomechanical sensors to detect aspects of the way people run that can cause injuries in amateur runners

Researchers have set out to improve the fact that says that fifty percent of amateur runners suffer at least one injury in their first year.

Physical Therapy researchers from the CEU Cardenal Herrera University presented their results from applying this technique, called gait retraining, in young triathletes aged 11 to 18 from the Technification Group of the Triathlon Federation of the Valencian Community, achieving a decrease in the number of injuries following a seven-month programme.

By attaching different sensors on the body of the runner, the researchers conducted a dynamic surface electromyography. Research was guided by associate professor and coordinator of the Degree in Physical therapy of the CEU UCH, Javier Martínez Gramage, head of the Movement Analysis Research Laboratory LIAMCEU.

As professor Martínez Gramage explains, “the indicators that these sensors provide allow us to establish optimal running parameters to prevent possible injuries by giving the runner indications through feedback in real time during the test, so that they may correct the aspects of the way they run that may cause an injury in the future, thus readapting their way of running. This clinical intervention in real time with the use of biomechanical sensors does not only make it possible to decrease the risk of injuries, but also contributes to improve performance and the athlete’s motivation.”

Measured variables include cadence, the time of the gait and ground contact cycle, balance, the length of the stride, flight time, strength or speed, among others. And the subsequent video-analysis conducted has provided data such as the contralateral pelvic tilt, knee extension, tibial inclination or dorsiflexion while running.

Injury prediction with artificial intelligence

“The use of artificial intelligence is especially interesting for professional and elite athletes, for whom it is essential to be able to predict injuries. In this first study, we have applied it on young triathletes aged 11 to 18,” says Martínez Gramage. Following the intervention with gait training in these young triathletes, “we detected, through the application of this algorithm, that the contralateral tilt of the pelvis and the low activation of the gluteus medius are the variables that are the most related to the appearance of future injuries for these triathletes. The readaptation to running in real time to correct these two biomechanical parameters has helped decrease the appearance of injuries in the 19 participants in the programme”.