ACSM Awards UofM Doctoral Student Research Grant
Lyons will study in-field measures of Tibial Compressive Force using wearable devices and marker-less motion capture
Biomechanics doctoral student Sam Lyons, advised by Dr. Max Paquette, has been awarded a Doctoral Student Research Grant from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the leading exercise science and sports medicine organization in the World. This grant is specifically funded by the World Athletics Federation, one of the most influential sport governing bodies, having great involvement in the Olympics and the creation of its own global events, such as the century-old World Athletics Championship. This grant funds human research in the area of physical activity, training and human performance relative to athletic events (e.g., track and field, road running, trail running, race walking). Besides increasing knowledge, the proposal should have a practical impact on all those who regularly participate in athletics, both for competition purposes and simply to enhance their health.
This study aims to develop practical methods to measure bone forces on the tibia and to assess how well we can measure these forces using wearable devices outside of laboratory settings. Bone stress injuries account for approximately 16-20% of all running-related injuries and occur due to the inability of bone to adapt to repetitive mechanical loads, resulting in structural micro-damage, pain, and fractures. Results from this study will help improve methods to quantify tibial bone forces and allow coaches and medical support staff optimize training and bone stress injury rehabilitation programs in runners. Wearable technology may be used to estimate tibial forces to remove technological or computational barriers for coaches and medical support staff.
For more information on this research, contact Paquette at maxime.paquette@memphis.edu.
